IT 


-.%Jp  A.  M      !W 


SOUTHERN  BRANCH 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNJA 

LIBRARY,  ' 

•LOS  ANGERS;  CALIF. 


THE 


JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL 
IDEA 


BY 


JOSEPH  K.  VAN  DENBURG,   Ph.D. 

Teachers  College,  Columbia  University,  1911 


NEW  YORK 
HENRY  HOLT  AND   COMPANY 


51968 


COPYRIGHT,    1922, 
BY 
HENRY  HOLT  AND   COMPANY 

)uh\'iQ23 


PRINTED  IN   U.  S.  A. 


V  ^£ 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

A.   Introduction 3 

I.  The  Junior  High  School  Idea 8 

i^v        II.  The  Use  of    Prognostic    Tests  in  Junior    High 

^  School  Administration 21 

(   o»       III.  Speed  Grouping  in  the  Junior  High  School 36 

^\        IV.   Choosing  the  Course  of  Study 58 

V.  General   Method    in   the   Junior   High   School 

Part    I.  —  Rationalism 77 

Part  II.  —  Articulation 85 

VI.  English  in  the  Junior  High  School 96 

n        VII.    General  Introductory  Mathematics 125 

v'    VIII.   Introductory  Foreign  Language 139 

IX.  General  Introductory  Science 158 

X.  Introductory  Social  Science 173 

XI.  Appreciation  of  Art  in  the  Junior  High  School  187 
J        XII.   Physical  Training,  Bodily  Health  and  Charac- 

1                      ter  Building 199 

Q      XIII.   Teaching  Pupils  to  Study  Alone 220 

,  o       XIV.   The    Project    Method    of    Instruction    in    the 

Junior  High  School 223 

XV.   The  Socialized  Recitation   in  the  Junior  High 

School 245 

XVI.   Field  Work  in  All  Junior  High  School  Subjects 

Part    I.  —  Value  of  Field  Work 259 

Part  II.  —  Practical  Details  of  Field  Study.  274 

XVII.  Written  Examinations  and  Recognition  Tests.  284 

XVIII.  Relative  Ratings  and  Pupils'  Report  Cards...  310 

XIX.   Pupil   Self-Government 327 

XX.   Teacher    Participation    in   Junior    High    School 

Administration 354 

Appendix 379 

Bibliography 413 

Index ■ 419 


THE  JUNIOE  HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 


\ 


THE 

JUNIGK  HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 


CHAPTER  A 
INTRODUCTION 

It  is  said  that  any  one  really  wishing  to  get  the  point  of 
view  of  any  serious  study,  whether  it  be  in  text-book 
form  or  not,  should  study  the  preface  and  the  table  of 
contents  carefully,  before  beginning  the  first  chapter. 
Most  of  us,  however,  are  too  impatient  to  begin  the  book 
we  have  selected  to  read,  and  to  get  directly  to  the  story 
or  explanation  that  concerns  us,  to  be  as  careful  in  these 
matters  as  the  experts  tell  us  we  should. 

Because  most  of  us  may  prefer  the  direct  attack  in  this 
discussion  of  the  purposes  and  practices  of  modern  junior 
high  school,  we  shall  include  in  this,  our  first  chapter, 
such  preface  or  introduction  as  may  be  necessary. 

At  Speyer  Experimental  Junior  High  School  in  New 
York  City;  where  the  aims  and  practices  that  we  shall 
discuss  have  been  or  are'  being  worked  out,  we  have  a 
peculiarly  managed  school.  The  principal  and  teachers 
are  paid  by  the  City  of  New  York  as  in  all  other  public 
schools.  The  educational  direction  of  the  school,  the 
selection  of  the  program  of  studies  and  the  various 
courses,  however,  have  been  under  the  immediate 
supervision  of  Teachers  College,  Columbia  University, 
with  Professor  Thomas  H.  Briggs  as  its  representative 
in  the  field.  Teachers  College  owns  the  Speyer  build- 
ing, the  gift  of  Mr.  James  Speyer  of  New  York  City. 

3 


4  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

Speyer  School  therefore  has  been  developed  and  is 
developing  as  an  experimental  school  where,  under  Pro- 
fessor Briggs'  direction,  the  principal  and  teachers  have 
been  wholly  free  to  work  out  such  administrative  meth- 
ods and  such  courses  of  study  as  seemed  best  fitted  to  se- 
cure the  results  desired. 

The  six  hundred  pupils  have  been  public  school  boys 
land  for  a  time  girls  also)  selected  from  some  twenty 
neighboring  elementary  schools  because  of  their  prom- 
ise of  school  success.  On  the  whole,  the  pupils  have 
been  above  the  average  New  York  City  boys  of  their  age 
in  general  intelligence. 

The  twenty  teachers  too  are  above  the  average,  hav- 
ing been  selected  for  initiative,  knowledge  of  subject 
matter,  a  willingness  to  try  eagerly  and  honestly  such  in- 
novations as  have  been  proposed,  and  above  all,  for 
that  professional  spirit  that  leads  them  to  consider  first 
most  carefully  the  reasons  why  a  thing  should  be  done 
at  all,  and  then  being  satisfied  on  that  point  to  do  that 
thing  as  well  as  in  them  lies. 

The  general  aim  of  Speyer  School  as  stated  by  Pro- 
fessor Briggs  and  accepted  by  the  faculty  and  pupils  of 
the  school  has  been: 

First:  "To  teach  pupils  to  do  better  those  desir- 
able activities  that  they  will  do  anyway  and  to  teach 
these  by  means  of  material  in  itself  worth  while." 

Second,  "  To  reveal  higher  types  of  activities  and 
to  make  these  both  desired  and,  to  an  extent, 
possible." 

For  the  sake  of  our  discussions  that  follow,  let  us  ac- 
cept this  aim  and  keep  it  more  or  less  in  mind  in  all 
that  we  are  to  read  over,  for  it  may  help  us  to  appreci- 
ate a  point  of  view  that  may  appear  more  or  less  fre- 


INTRODUCTION  5 

quently  in  the  chapters  that  follow.  It  may  help  us 
also  when  later  we  come  to  a  discussion  of  the  actual 
class  room  material  in  the  five  or  more  subjects  of  study 
or  lines  of  work,  as  English,  mathematics,  etc.,  etc.,  if 
we  remember  that  here  we  shall  not  attempt  to  consider 
all  the  well  known  and  accepted  aims  for  each  subject, 
but  rather  to  select  for  emphasis  only  the  predominant 
aim  or  aims  that  we  may  agree  should  characterize  this 
work  in  a  modern  junior  high  school,  whether  those  aims 
be  new  or  old. 

With  the  exception  of  some  parts  of  a  single  chapter 
(the  one  on  Introductory  Social  Science) ,  all  that  follows 
is  not  simply  theory,  but  rather  theory  applied  to  the  ac- 
tual administration  and  operation  of  the  school  and  class 
room  work.  With  that  single  exception  (which  we  hope 
will  not  long  continue  as  such)  all  that  we  shall  discuss 
is  either  actually  being  accomplished  or  at  least  is  being 
honestly  attempted  in  the  various  classes  of  Speyer 
School.  If,  as  in  the  case  with  Manual  Training  (shop 
work)  for  boys  and  Domestic  Science  (cooking  and  sew- 
ing) for  girls,  a  chapter  is  conspicuous  by  its  absence,  it 
is  because  our  physical  limitations  at  Speyer  School — a 
small  building,  greatly  overcrowded — prevent  us  from 
working  out  our  theories  in  practice.  Similarly  in  the 
case  of  Commercial  Work,  where  the  number  of  students 
electing  this  course  of  study  is  too  small  to  permit  of 
profitable  experimentation,  at  Speyer  School,  all  discus- 
sion is  omitted. 

If  these  omissions  seem  to  weaken  our  discussion,  they 
nevertheless  may  be  admitted  to  strengthen  it  too  by  en- 
tirely eliminating  a  discussion  of  "What  might  be  done" 
as  contrasted  with  what  is  being  done.  Therefore  in  all 
our  work  we  shall  try  to  keep  our  feet  continuously  on 
the  solid  ground  of  actual  practice,  believing  that,  on  the 


6  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

whole,  this  method  will  make  our  discussions  of  more 
lasting  value. 

Let  it  be  understood,  however,  that  at  Speyer  School  we 
are  working,  even  with  all  our  freedom,  under  limitations 
of  many  kinds  depending  upon  equipment,  frequent 
changes  in  our  teaching  staff,  difficulties  in  securing  suit- 
able text-books,  etc.,  etc.,  —  just  such  limitations  as 
hamper  the  work  of  many  other  schools.  We  therefore 
suffer  from  no  misconceptions  as  to  our  perfection,  nor 
have  we  been  able  to  accomplish  all  that  we  might  have 
wished.  We  have  had  to  temporize  over  and  over  again 
in  order  to  meet  conditions  that  actually  exist. 

And  yet  the  various  principles  as  they  are  developed  in 
this  book  will  not  be  academic  theories,  but  rather  the 
statement  of  our  accepted  aims  now  followed  in  all  our 
Speyer  School  work.  So  far  as  our  limitations  permit 
we  are  working  out  in  actual  daily  practice  the  type  of 
work  this  book  portrays. 

In  the  arrangement  of  the  book  itself,  the  author  has 
profited  by  many  helpful  criticisms  made  by  Professor 
Thomas  H.  Briggs  of  Teachers  College,  New  York,  and 
oy  Dr.  Thomas  W.  Gosling,  State  Supervisor  of  Second- 
ary Education,  Madison,  Wisconsin.  To  these  gentle- 
men the  reader,  as  well  as  the  author,  is  greatly  indebted. 

Finally,  we  must  not  forget  that  at  our  present  stage  of 
educative  progress  we  have  almost  as  many  kinds  of  jun- 
ior high  schools  as  we  have  individual  principals.  This  is 
far  from  being  a  condition  for  which  any  apology  is 
needed.  On  the  contrary,  if  each  school  be  considered  for 
a  time  an  experiment  station  for  finding  the  best  way  for 
ministering  to  the  needs  of  the  pupils  of  its  locality,  we 
have  a  high  degree  of  probability  that  the  related, 
the  classified,  total  experiences  of  these  various  schools 
will   enable  us  in  the   not  very  far  distant   future  to 


INTRODUCTION  7 

reach  conclusions  as  to  aim  and  content  far  more  ac- 
curate and  far  more  valuable  than  those  attainable  by 
any  small  central  group  which  may  prescribe  uniform 
courses  at  this  time. 

May  it  be  some  years  before  any  one  shall  be  permitted 
to  say,  "This  at  last  is  a  junior  high  school,  just  this 
and  nothing  else  —  definite  in  curriculum,  definite  in 
subjects  of  study,  fixed  now  for  a  generation  at  least." 
For  the  present,  let  us  consider  the  untold  possibilities  for 
good  that  may  result  if  we  permit  our  youngest  child  the 
unconventionalities  characteristic  of  childhood  and 
growth,  glorying  in,  rather  than  grieving  over,  his  in- 
consistencies and  the  length  of  his  formative  period. 

1.  How  is  Speyer  School  conducted? 

2.  Is  there  a  possibility  of  conducting  a  similar  experimental 

school  in  my  own  school  system? 

3.  What    educational    institution    could    be    called    upon    to 

assist  if  my  board  of  education  would  consent  to  such 
joint  control? 

4.  What  are  the  particular  qualifications  to  be  sought  in  the 

principal  and  teachers  of  a  junior  high  school? 

5.  What   is   Professor   Briggs'   definition   of   the   educational 

purpose  of  a  junior  high  school? 

6.  How   does   this   definition   differ   from   others   that   have 

been  given? 

7.  What   is  meant  by  "those   desirable  activities"  that  our 

pupils  will   pursue  anyway? 

8.  What  is  the  meaning  of  "material  in  itself  worth  while"? 

9.  What  "higher  types"  of  activities  may  the  junior  high 

school  reveal? 
10.  Why  will   discussions   of  work   in   Manual   Training  and 
in  Commercial  Studies  be  omitted  from  this  book? 


CHAPTER  I 

THE    JUNIOR   HIGH    SCHOOL   IDEA 

The  school  superintendent  of  a  large  and  prosperous 
suburban  district  recently  visited  one  of  New  York's  most 
successful  junior  high  schools  for  the  purpose  of  gathering 
material  to  use  in  arguing  against  the  advisability  of 
initiating  any  such  innovation  in  the  school  system  he 
supervised.  It  appeared  that  the  school  board  of  his  city 
had  suggested  the  possibility  of  opening  this  type  of 
school,  but  the  superintendent,  with  a  large  system  splen- 
didly organized,  running  smoothly  and  efficiently,  looked 
askance  upon  any  innovation  that  might,  he  feared,  de- 
stroy the  organization  he  had  so  carefully  built  up.  How- 
ever, only  one  morning  spent  in  visiting  the  junior  high 
school  in  question  was  necessary  to  convince  this  man 
that  the  newT  type  of  school,  however  incomplete  in  its 
present  development,  would  still  be  of  distinct  value  to 
any  system.  As  a  result  of  this  one  visit  the  superinten- 
dent concerned  became  an  enthusiastic  convert  to  the 
junior  high  school  idea. 

In  many  cases  it  must  be  admitted  the  demand  for 
junior  high  schools  comes  from  other  than  educational 
reasons.  It  may  be  that  the  least  worthy  of  these  de- 
mands comes  from  the  school  boards  that  wish  junior 
high  schools  introduced  in  their  school  system  simply 
because  they  appear  to  be  coming  into  style,  or  because 
they  have  heard  that  a  rival  city  was  putting  them  in 
operation.     A   more   forceful   demand   comes   from   the 


THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA  9 

school  board  that  believes  it  possible  to  save  money  by 
educating  a  large  fraction  of  their  present  high  school 
population  in  elementary  school  buildings. 

The  growing  demand  by  American  parents  everywhere 
for  increased  opportunities  in  secondary  school  educa- 
tion for  their  children  has  taxed  all  existing  high  schools 
to  their  utmost.  To  build  new  high  schools  (expensive 
buildings  even  when  most  economically  built)  wrould  re- 
quire that  relatively  high  sums  would  have  to  be  raised 
by  taxation. 

A  study  of  the  pupils  enrolled  in  our  American  high 
schools  has  shown  that  nearly  half  of  all  our  high  school 
pupils  are  found  in  the  first  high  school,  or  ninth  school 
year.    If  only  these  ninth  year  pupils  could  be  held  one 
year  more  in  the  elementary  schools,  it  has  been  argued, 
then  we  would  need  not  much  more  than  half  as  great 
accommodations  to  house  the  remainder  in  high  school 
buildings.    In  this  way,  after  subtracting  the  ninth  year 
pupils,  one  high  school  building  could  be  made  to  do  the 
work  which  under  the  old  plan  required  two  buildings. 
Furthermore,  high  school  teachers  are  generally  paid 
better  annual  salaries  than  are  paid  to  elementary  school 
teachers.     Nearly  as  many  high  school  teachers  are  re- 
quired to  teach  ninth  year  pupils  today  as  are  required 
to  teach  all  the  remaining  pupils  of  the  tenth,  eleventh, 
and  twelfth  school  years.     If  therefore,  we  could  have 
these  ninth  year  pupils  taught  and  supervised  by  persons 
paid  on  a  lower  salary  schedule,  a  decided  saving  in  sal- 
aries could  be  added  to  the  saving  in  school  building  con- 
struction. 

However  commendable  may  be  the  effort  to  serve  the 
taxpayer's  pocketbook,  such  a  change  can  only  be  made 
at  the  expense  of  the  school  population.  Slowly  but  surely 
the  quality  of  the  instruction  in  the  lower  school  will  dete- 


10  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

riorate  if  a  salary  distinction  is  maintained,  and  while  a 
saving  in  money  is  secured  a  loss  in  education  is  inevi- 
table. Where  junior  high  schools  have  been  longer  in 
operation,  as  in  the  Middle  West,  it  lias  been  found  nec- 
essary to  put  the  junior  and  senior  high  school  teachers 
on  an  equal  scholarship  and  salary  basis.  In  the  East 
it  is  fair  to  assume  that  there  will  be  ultimately  the  same 
equality. 

Perhaps  the  best  picture  of  the  situation  toward  which 
we  are  moving  is  given  by  Supt.  Gosling,  Supervisor  of 
junior  high  schools  in  Wisconsin,  who  in  his  book  on 
■"Selection  and  Training;  of  Teachers  for  Junior  High 
Schools"  is  quoted  by  Briggs  as  saying: 

"In  the  meantime  the  tendency  manifest  in  some  places  to 
establish  a  salary  schedule  that  is  intermediate  between  the 
schedule  of  the  elementary  school  and  that  of  the  senior  high 
school  is  to  be  resisted  strongly,  because  it  not  only  fails  to 
recognize  the  importance  of  the  junior  high  school  and  the 
significant  contributions  of  its  teachers  to  the  development 
of  a  difficult  piece  of  work,  but  also  it  strikes  at  the  stability 
of  the  new  institution  by  the  subtle  suggestion  to  teachers  that 
They  may  regard  their  position  merely  as  a  steppine-stone  to 
the  safe  berth  and  the  higher  salary  which  the  senior  high 
school  offers.  In  other  words,  the  intermediate  salary  created 
a  condition  of  unstable  equilibrium,  whereas  fixedness,  firmly 
basftl  in  high  purposes  persistently  followed,  is  needed  to  de- 
velop  the  junior  high  school  up  to  the  full  measure  of  its 
possibilities." 

Supt.  Gosling  in  his  address  to  the  Intermediate  School 
Association  of  New  York  City,  cxprcs-ed  his  firm  con- 
viction that  sooner  or  later  to  save  the  junior  high  schools 
for  their  special  work  the  Eastern  states  would  be  obliged 
to  follow  the  lead  of  Wisconsin  and  pay  the  same  salaries 
in  the  junior  and  senior  high  schools. 

The  junior  high  school  is  not  a  money  saving  device, 
save  possibly  during  the  earlier  years  of  its  inception, 


THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL  IDEA  11 

though  even  then  the  increased  cost  of  equipping  these 
schools  easily  outweighs  their  savings  in  teachers'  salaries 
at  least. 

The  truly  educational  demands  for  the  initiation  of 
junior  high  schools  come  from  a  desire  to  lessen  or  abol- 
ish the  loss  of  power  that  seems  inevitable  between 
the  old  style  elementary  and  old  style  high  school.  In 
the  language  of  the  automobile  engineer  the  two  older 
types  (the  elementary  schools  and  the  high  schools)  need 
to  be  united  by  a  flexible  coupling  or  universal  joint 
rather  than  by  a  rigid  shaft. 

It  is  worth  while  for  us  to  consider  the  situation  as  it 
exists  in  most  of  our  Eastern  school  systems  today. 

The  greatest  contrast  between  the  two  older  types  of 
schools  is  found  not,  as  one  might  assume,  in  their 
courses  of  study,  but  rather  in  their  educational  point 
of  view.  If  we  hesitate  to  accept  this  diagnosis  of  the 
essential  difference  a  further  examination  of  the  facts 
may   convince  us. 

In  most  of  our  elementary  schools  with  an  eighth  year 
course,  the  seventh  year  practically  completes  the  ad- 
vance work  —  indeed  a  large  part  of  this  year's  work  is 
the  review  of  the  earlier  grades.  The  eighth  year  is  still 
more  largely  a  reviewing  year  and  the  last  half  of  the 
eighth  year,  just  before  graduation,  is  almost  entirely 
given  to  review.  Habit,  tradition,  printed  "requirements 
for  graduation"  have  all  combined  to  make  the  eighth 
school  year  largely  an  end  in  itself,  that  end  being  "grad- 
uation" without  any  particular  reference  to  the  pupil's 
ability  or  fitness  to  make  progress  in  any  line  once  "grad- 
uation" is  secured.  It  has  been  assumed  that  if  a  pupil 
knew  enough  "to  graduate"  he  must  of  necessity  know 
enough  to  continue  his  education  in  high  school  or  to  make 
a  successful  beginning  as  embryo  artisan  or  tradesman. 


12  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

However,  the  average  elementary  school  has  never 
taken  any  high  degree  of  interest  in  the  success  of  its  pu- 
pils in  doing  the  work  that  lay  ahead  of  them  after  grad- 
uation. The  one  and  only  question  was  "graduation"  — 
after  that  the  deluge,  if  such  must  be.  In  any  event  their 
hands  were  clean  —  had  not  their  pupils  passed  the 
exacting  graduation  examinations —  (Here  are  the  exam- 
mination  questions  and  the  answer  papers  to  prove  it)  ? 
In  support  of  this  position  it  is  frequently  contended  that 
the  elementary  school  is  designed  to  provide  "the  tools 
of  learning."  When  its  pupils  are  so  provided  the  elemen- 
tary school  has  fulfilled  its  mission  and  may  rest  content. 

Without  undertaking  to  argue  against  this  contention 
we  might  be  tempted  to  ask  if  it  is  still  reasonable  to 
require  the  elementary  school  not  merely  to  provide 
the  tools  of  learning,  but  to  give  some  attention  to  their 
probable  use,  after  "graduation"  is  attained.  However, 
when  we  consider  the  weight  of  tradition  which  binds 
teachers  and  superintendents  to  the  custom  of  years,  it 
becomes  more  reasonable  to  assume  that  the  creation  of 
a  new  type  of  school  to  take  over  the  work  of  the  seventh 
and  eighth  school  years  will  be  an  easier  task  than  will 
be  the  conversion  of  the  established  schools  from  their 
habit  of  several  generations.  For  so  many  years  the 
higher  grades  of  the  elementary  schools  have  been  facing 
backward,  that  it  seems  an  impossibility  for  any  one  to 
compel  them  to  about  face  and  look  ahead.  Rather  than 
to  attempt  to  convert  the  old  type  of  elementary  school 
can  we  not  more  easily  provide  a  new  type  of  school  that 
faces  front,  whose  concern  is  greater  on  the  question  of 
what  its  pupils  will  do  than  it  is  upon  the  question  of 
what  they  have  done?  Would  it  not  be  helpful  to  us  to 
have  new  schools  whose  interest  was  centered  in  help- 
ing its  pupils  to  do  better  the  things  ahead  of  them  rather 


THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA  13 

than  in  drilling  its  pupils  upon  what  lay  behind?  To  be 
sure  in  many  cases  success  in  the  work  ahead  will  depend 
upon  success  in  holding  in  mind  much  that  has  been  pre- 
viously covered.  Yet,  when  we  examine  the  facts,  the 
amount  of  such  necessary  preliminary  information  is,  af- 
ter all,  astonishingly  small.  To  read,  to  write,  to  compute 
arithmetically  —  to  have  some  introductory  knowledge 
of  the  globe  and  its  inhabitants,  may  well  be  considered 
absolutely  essential  to  successful  entry  into  even  the 
simplest  lines  of  human  endeavor.  But  with  the  com- 
pletion of  the  sixth  school  year  we  have  covered  at 
least  once  most  of  the  information  that  is  indisputably 
essential  from  the  standpoint  of  past  performance.  Is 
this  not  a  good  point  at  which  to  begin  to  give  less 
attention  to  what  we  have  done  and  more  to  what  we 
can  do? 

Rather  than  to  remodel  our  seventh  and  eighth  years^ 
(an  almost  impossible  task,  we  must  admit)  is  it  not 
easier  for  us  to  begin  our  seventh  year  with  a  clean 
slate  and  to  build  up  as  we  progress  a  course  of  study, 
whether  it  be  new  or  old,  which  is  designed  for  the  one 
great  purpose  of  better  fitting  those  who  follow  it  to  do 
better  the  work  in  school,  or  out,  that  lies  just  ahead? 

If  thus  far  we  are  in  agreement,  we  have  stated  one  of 
the  fundamental  reasons  for  adopting  the  junior  high 
school  idea. 

A  second  fundamental  reason  arises  from  the  situation 
in  which  our  present  elementary  school  graduate  usually 
finds  himself  after  "graduation,"  but  before  he  actually 
enters  any  secondary  school.  Our  pupil  has  now  finished 
by  "graduation"  eight  years  of  school  work.  This  work 
has  been  for  his  entire  school  life  uniform,  prescribed, 
inevitable.  Up  to  this  point  any  choice  as  to  the  sub- 
ject-matter to  be  studied  has  been  wholly,  or  almost 


14  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

wholly,  denied.  From  the  situation  of  blindfolded 
obedience  to  a  prescribed  course  of  study  the  pupil  sud- 
denly is  unbandaged  in  the  bright  light  of  a  wide  range 
of  choice  in  the  school  work  he  may  next  undertake.  In 
many  school  systems  the  pupil  must,  if  he  continue  his 
education,  at  once  select  one  of  the  four  or  five  high 
school  courses  that  lie  just  ahead.  These  courses,  vari- 
ously designated  as  General,  Scientific,  Technical,  Vo- 
cational (Trade),  Commercial  and  by  other  names, 
differ  decidedly  among  themselves  in  purpose  and  in  in- 
struction. To  be  sure  the  pupil  through  possible  acquaint- 
ance with  high  school  boys,  or  through  the  eleventh 
hour  explanation  of  his  former  elementary  school  principal, 
has  some  vague  idea  of  the  nature  and  purpose  of 
the  various  high  school  courses.  However,  he  is  on  the 
whole  densely  ignorant  of  his  own  aptitudes  and  is  with- 
out any  trustworthy  knowledge  of  himself  on  which  to 
base  his  necessarily  immediate  selection.  There  has  been 
no  effort  on  the  part  of  his  school  work  or  his  school 
teachers  to  lead  him  gradually  to  a  wise  choice.  He  has 
not  been  given  any  glimpse  of  the  work  ahead  —  he  only 
knows  that,  in  the  main,  his  new  work  will  be  different 
from  that  he  has  been  following  in  the  elementary  school, 
how  different,  in  subject-matter  and  method,  he  will  soon 
learn  to  his  extreme  surprise. 

Students  of  education  have  long  felt  that  there  was 

'  need  for  such  a  course  of  study  in  the  seventh  and 
eighth  school  years  as  might  train  pupils  of  those  years 
to  make  a  less  random  choice  of  the  course  they  would 

5  pursue  in  the  ninth  and  succeeding  school  years.  The 
only  method  by  which  we  have  as  yet  felt  sure  a  pupil 
could  find  his  own  capacities  has  been  the  method  of  trial 
and  error — a  faulty  method  at  best,  but  a  tremendously 
costly  one  when  an  error  of  choice  has  usually  meant  the 


THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA  15 

termination  once  and  for  all  of  that  pupil's  secondary 
school  education.  Yet  in  our  American  high  schools,  the 
country  over,  not  more  than  one  in  five  (more  often  not 
more  than  one  in  ten)  completes  the  high  school  course  of 
his  election.  On  the  whole,  not  half  the  pupils  entering 
any  high  school  complete  even  the  work  of  the  first  two 
years.  As  a  rule  there  are  more  high  school  pupils  en- 
rolled in  the  first  school  year  than  can  be  counted  in 
the  three  remaining  years  combined.  Admitting  that 
we  should  be  in  error  in  attributing  this  tremendous 
high  school  mortality  entirely  to  the  faulty  choice  of 
course,  we  still  may  be  within  the  bounds  of  probabili- 
ties if  we  maintain  that  the  snap  judgment,  forced  from 
the  elementary  school  graduate,  is  no  mean  factor  in  hisl 
subsequent  elimination.  An  exhaustive  study  of  high 
school  eliminations  in  New  York  City  made  some  years 
ago  clearly  established  the  fact  that  many,  if  not  most, 
of  the  pupils  who  failed  in  high  school  did  so  not  because 
they  were  unable  to  do  their  work,  but  because  they  were 
unwilling  to  do  it. 

If  we  could  only  have  a  course  of  study  for  the  seventh 
and  eighth  school  years  that  made  one  of  its  chief  aims 
training  its  pupils  to  find  their  own  aptitudes,  talents  and 
preferences  for  further  work  and  study,  we  would  have  a 
course  of  study  unquestionably  superior  to  the  traditional 
seventh  and  eighth  year  work.  While  a  school  with 
such  a  new  course  would  still  have  to  employ  to  a  large1;, 
extent  the  old  "trial  and  error"  method,  it  would  never-  { 
theless  have  the  trials  made  under  such  favorable  cir- 
cumstances that  errors  of  choice  could  be  corrected  with 
a  minumum  of  loss  to  the  pupil  himself. 

Under  our  subsequent  discussion  we  shall  see  that  the 
junior  high  school  undertakes  to  furnish  just  this  range 
of  experience  (without  specialization  or  immediate  choice 


16  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

of  courses  I  that  is  necessary  for  each  pupil,  if  he  is  to  be 
given  the  slightest  opportunity  to  make  a  reasonably  safe 
selection  of  his  further  subjects  of  study.  For  our  present 
purposes  it  is  enough  that  we  agree  that  it  is  both  desira- 
ble and  necessary  in  full  justice  to  our  present  elementary 
pupils  to  give  them  somewhat  extended  school  training  in 
rinding  out  what  they  may  be  able  to  do  next,  in  school 
or  out,  with  reasonable  hopes  of  ultimate  benefit  to  them- 
selves and  to  their  life  work,  while  at  the  same  time  we 
prevent  our  pupils  from  being  forced  to  an  early  choice. 

Inasmuch  as  our  new  type  of  school  has  for  its  first  aim 
preparing  pupils  to  look  ahead  to  the  thing  they  will  do 
next,  it  becomes  easy  to  add  as  our  second  aim  the  train- 
ing of  its  pupils  to  choose  more  wisely  what  this  next 
work  shall  be. 

The  ideal  junior  high  school  is  therefore  a  finding  and 
a  sorting  school  where  pupils  may,  through  actual  expe- 
rience, be  led  to  make  a  more  rational  selection  of  their 
senior  high  school  work,  or  their  occupation  in  the  world 
of  industry,  than  would  be  otherwise  possible.  The  claims 
for  recognition  of  such  a  school,  could  it  be  brought  into 
existence,  needs  no  further  defense. 

The  third  situation  in  the  education  of  American  ado- 
lescents that  demands  correction  arises  from  the  treat- 
ment that  most  of  our  elementary  graduates  receive  on 
first  entering  high  school.  The  pupil  whose  attention  has 
been  held  for  years  to  repetition  and  review,  who  has  been 
helped,  prodded,  cajoled  and  threatened  into  memorizing 
certain  bits  of  information  —  not  infrequently  requiring 
two  years  to  do  the  work  of  one  —  this  pupil  now  enters 
high  school  where  he  is  expected  to  attack  newT  work 
largely  on  his  own  initiative  and  impelled,  not  so  much  by 
interest,  as  by  a  sense  of  duty. 

For  years  superintendents  and  principals  have  endeav- 


THE  JUNIOR  HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA  17 

ored  by  all  good  means  to  make  the  entering  high  school 
year  a  more  simple  and  natural  introduction  to  further 
secondary  education.  It  must  be  admitted  that  no  stable 
and  certainly  no  permanent  success  has  attended  their 
efforts  no  matter  how  earnest  they  may  have  been.  For 
generations  the  high  school  has  been  the  school  for  the 
selection  of  leaders,  and  it  has  not  failed  in  its  task. 
As  a  first  requisite  in  training  leaders  it  was  necessary 
to  find  out  who  the  leaders  were  and  this  could  easily  be 
done  by  casting  out  those  who  failed  to  meet  the  quite 
altered  requirements  of  the  higher  school.  From  his  very 
entering  day  the  high  school  pupil  has  been  placed  on  the 
defensive  to  prove  his  fitness  to  stay  in  school.  Those 
who  were  unable  or  unwilling  to  defend  themselves  by  a 
good  school  record  were  easily  disposed  of;  no  law  for- 
bidding, they  were  at  once  shown  the  way  out  and  ad- 
vised "to  go  to  work."  One  does  not  have  to  go  back  to 
ancient  history  to  find  a  high  school  teacher  boasting  of 
the  thoroughness  of  his  instruction  in  which  scarcely  more 
than  half  of  his  pupils  could  reach  the  passing  grade. 

It  is  true  that  the  past  ten  years  or  so,  have  marked  a 
decided  change  in  the  purposes  for  which  the  American 
public  maintains  its  secondary  schools,  but  it  is  equally 
true  that  the  established  habits  of  over  a  century 
have  not  yet  been  modified  in  a  majority  of  our  high 
schools  of  today.  Though  the  public  maintains  its  sec- 
ondary high  schools  as  a  people's  college  where  element- 
ary pupils  may  go,  not  to  be  made  leaders,  but  to  be  made 
more  useful  to  themselves  and  to  the  community,  still 
there  are  enough  principals  and  teachers  of  the  genera- 
tion that  is  passing  to  keep  the  high  schools  at  work  upon 
a  duty  that  has  passed. 

In  a  majority  of  our  high  schools  of  today  as  in  a 
majority  of  high  schools  since  they  first  existed  the  pupil 


18  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

is  supposed  to  study  at  home  alone  the  work  he  will  be 
expected  to  recite  in  class  tomorrow.  To  be  sure  there 
may  be  a  modicum  of  explanation  by  the  teacher,  of  the 
work  so  assigned.  The  task  itself  may  not  be  over  diffi- 
cult, but  the  point  of  view  is  wholly  different.  In  the 
elementary  school  the  pupil  knew  that  he  shared  with  his 
teacher  the  obligations  of  his  daily  work.  If  it  was  his 
duty  to  learn,  it  was  equally  the  teacher's  duty  to  see 
that  he  learned.  The  question  of  study  was  secondary  to 
the  question  of  learning.  If  in  the  seventh  and  eighth 
years  the  pupil  would  not  study,  then  the  teacher  failing 
in  all  else,  was  obliged  to  study  for  the  pupil  and  to  feed 
him  his  mental  pabulum  in  pre-digested  form. 

As  the  emphasis  in  the  elementary  school  lies  almost 
wholly  upon  getting  the  facts,  but  scarcely  at  all  upon 
the  manner  of  their  getting,  so  in  the  high  school  the 
emphasis  still  lies  upon  the  facts,  but  here  the  manner 
of  their  getting,  namely  by  the  pupil  alone  at  home,  is 
given  at  least  equal  importance  through  the  emphasis 
laid  upon  the  daily  home-prepared  recitation. 

It  may  be  well  enough  to  say  that  the  elementary  pu- 
pils should  be  taught  how  to  study,  before  they  are  al- 
lowed to  graduate,  but  what  principal  or  superintendent 
ever  set  a  "graduation  examination"  based  on  this  abil- 
ity? 

So  long  as  the  elementary  school  attitude  remains,  as 
it  has  for  generations:  "Make  the  pupils  get  the  facts 
and  no  embarrassing  questions  will  be  asked  as  to  how 
they  get  them,"  just  so  long  will  the  ambitious,  ener- 
getic and  resourceful  teacher  truly  carry  her  class,  if 
that  be  necessary,  across  the  passing  mark  for  "gradu- 
ation." However,  once  across  the  line  and  en- 
tered in  a  high  school  the  pupil  is  set  tasks  with  no 
attempt  to  cajole  him  to  his  work.    Indeed  but  little  if 


THE   JUNIOR   HIGH  SCHOOL   IDEA  19 

any  effort  is  made  to  prove  to  him  that  the  work  itself 
is  really  worth  his  while.  Even  the  most  conscientious 
among  high  school  teachers  may  feel  that  it  is  below 
his  dignity  to  defend  the  usefulness  of  his  specialty 
to  a  little  ignoramus  of  fourteen  years.  More  often 
we  find  the  attitude  of  the  high  school  teacher 
one  of  condescending  pity.  "You  poor  simpleton,"  he 
seems  to  say  to  his  backward  pupil,  "if  you  don't  knowj 
enough  to  study  my  subject,  you  are  beneath  my  notice.1 
Fail  and  leave  school,  as  you  deserve." 

This  is  no  great  exaggeration  of  the  situation  as  we 
find  it  in  most,  if  not  all,  of  our  public  school  systems  of 
today.  We  shall  consider  this  again  under  General 
Method,  but  for  the  present  we  have  but  to  agree  that 
some  remedy  should  be  found  for  the  sake  of  our  pupils 
who  suffer  so  inevitably  as  things  now  stand. 

For  a  third  time  we  meet  the  question  of  whether  it 
is  more  reasonable  and  more  economical  to  remodel  the 
schools  we  have  or  to  secure  the  ends  we  seek  by  estab- 
lishing a  new  type  of  school  that  includes  the  three  years 
that  most  need  alteration  —  the  closing  elementary  and 
the  beginning  secondary  school  years.  If  we  decide,  as 
seems  inevitable,  that  a  new  type  of  school  seems  the 
more  rational  solution,  since  it  gives  the  greater  promise 
of  success,  then  a  third  reason  for  the  establishment  of 
junior  high  school's  is  secured. 

Whether  the  mass  of  our  junior  high  school  pupils  go 
to  senior  high  school  or  work  out  their  own  salvation  "on 
the  job"  they  will  still  be  better  able  to  help  themselves 
to  an.  advance  in  knowledge,  than  would  have  been  pos- 
sible had  they  been  trained  only  in  the  older  types  of 
schools. 

The  junior  high  school  with  eyes  looking  forward, 
helping  its  pupils  to  find  themselves,  trains  them  to  rely 


20  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL  IDEA 

more  and  more  on  themselves  in  acquiring  new  knowl- 
edge. 

The  three  aims  that  we  have  considered  are  unques- 
tionably worthy,  but  still  incomplete.  In  our  discussion 
of  the  course  of  study  we  may  add  another  aim  that  may 
strengthen  our  belief  in  those  we  have  just  now  worked 
out. 

1.  What  are  some  of  the  less  worthy  motives  that  have  led  to 

the  founding  of  the  junior  high  schools? 

2.  What  are  some  of  the  major  faults  of  the  later  years  in  the 

old  time  elementary  school? 

3.  What  tremendous  freedom  of  election  has  been  allowed  all 

elementary  school  pupils  on  graduation?  How  were  these 
pupils  fitted  to  use  this  freedom? 

4.  What  are  some  of  the  more  conspicuous  faults  of  the  first 

year's  work  in  a  four  year  high  school  ? 

5.  What  training  is  necessary  to  make  a  wise  choice  of  elec- 

tives  possible? 

6.  What  does  the  junior  high  school  propose  to  attempt  in 

this  situation? 

7.  What  arguments  can  you  give  for  establishing  junior  high 

schools  (rather  than  attempting  to  remodel  our  estab- 
lished elementary  and  high  schools)  based  upon  these 
possible  changes: 

(a)  A  revised  course  of  study? 

(b)  A  preparation  for  later  freedom  of  election? 

(c)  A  progressive  training  in  self  reliance? 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  USE  OF  PROGNOSTIC  TESTS  IN  THE  JUNIOR 
HIGH  SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

Only  recently  has  the  general  public  manifested  any 
interest  or  any  faith  in  the  tests  which  psychologists  had 
long  been  building  up  to  determine  in  advance  the  native 
ability  of  those  attempting  to  undertake  certain  lines  of 
work. 

However  tardy  may  have  been  the  public's  recogni- 
tion of  the  work  of  our  psychologists  their  testing  our 
soldiers  and  sailors  in  the  World  War  has  now  given  men- 
tal tests  such  a  degree  of  prominence  that  no  one  with 
a  passing  knowledge  of  current  events  is  ignorant  of  their 
established  value. 

While  we  have  yet  some  unbelievers  to  convince,  no 
one  in  actual  contact  with  either  the  tests  or  the  tested 
has  failed  to  register  a  high  degree  of  approval.  From 
being  considered  by  some  at  first  the  vaporings  of  dis- 
ordered minds,  the  army  tests  came  to  be  recognized  by 
the  most  cynical  as  forecasts  of  the  future  too  near  the 
truth  to  be  disregarded  without  undeniable  loss. 

It  is  a  well  known  fact  that  the  candidates  for  officers' 
training  schools  justified  with  hardly  a  single  exception 
the  probabilities  as  worked  out  by  these  tests.  Of  every 
hundred  candidates  for  the  officers'  training  schools  in 
,  graded  by  intelligence  tests  into  five  men- 
tally equal  groups  from  the  brightest  to  those  least  bright, 
those  in  the  brightest  group  had  no  failures.    Those  in  the 

21 


22  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

lowest  group  all  failed.  In  the  intermediate  groups  there 
was  that  intermediate  degree  of  success  that  their  position 
in  the  group  on  the  psychologists'  scale  would  forecast. 

In  several  important  particulars  these  army  tests 
differed  from  those  that  had  been  previously  given  in  the 
schools.  So  also  those  tests  that  are  now  being  widely 
used  in  our  schools  differ  somewhat  from  those  that  were 
recently  used  in  the  army,  yet  in  the  main  all  these  tests 
agree  in  the  use  of  a  series  of  puzzles  or  short  problems 
that  appear  to  be  wholly  unrelated  to  the  work  for  which 
the  forecast  is  desired. 

We  have  had  intelligence  tests  in  the  school  for  many 
years,  but  these  tests  have  been  used  mainly,  if  not 
wholly,  to  determine  the  subnormal  and  the  defectives. 
The  Binet-Simon  tests  variously  revised  and  adapted 
have  stood  out  as  perhaps  the  most  widely  and  most  suc- 
cessfully used  for  this  purpose. 

To  give  properly  these  tests  first  required  a  skilled  and 
carefully  trained  psychologist.  Each  child  tested  re- 
quired a  quiet  room  alone  save  for  the  examiner,  who 
gave  one  pupil  his  entire  attention.  A  careful  test  might 
take  hours  and  even  then  leave  the  results  in  doubt. 
There  was  no  possibility  of  a  thorough  review  of  the  find- 
ings of  any  test  except  by  repeated  re-examinations  by 
other  experts.  Indeed  in  the  earliest  tests,  each  single 
examiner  had  but  slight  possibility  of  being  able  to  de- 
tect or  to  make  allowance  for  his  own  personal  idiosyn- 
cracies  in  conducting  his  examination  of  the  child. 

For  the  army  use  it  was  quite  evident  that  the  former 
school  tests  must  be  greatly  modified  in  order  to  be  at  all 
practical. 

In  the  first  place  there  were  but  very  few  examiners 
who  could  be  trusted  or  trained  to  give  a  mental  test  of 
the  type  that  required  skilled  preparation  and  personal 


PROGNOSTIC   TESTS   IN   ADMINISTRATION       23 

attention.  In  the  second  place  there  were  tens  of  thou- 
sands who  must  be  tested  almost  at  once.  The  idea  of 
individual  tests  as  formerly  conducted  was  wholly  out  of 
the  question.  It  became  necessary  for  the  psychologists  to 
develop  so  called  battery  tests  which  could  be  given  to 
several  hundred  candidates  at  one  and  the  same  time, 
under  nearly  uniform  conditions,  by  men  who  were  not 
psychologists  and  who  had  but  an  extremely  short  time 
to  acquire  such  training  as  might  be  given. 

Furthermore  these  tests  had  to  be  given  to  men,  many 
of  whom  could  neither  read  nor  write  the  English  lan- 
guage, and  indeed  to  some  that  could  not  read  or  write 
any  language  at  all.  The  tests  further  were  to  be  de- 
signed to  forecast  that  indefinite  something  known  as 
military  availability  so  that  the  men  might  be  immedi- 
ately placed  as  soldiers  or  sailors  in  those  positions  where 
they  would  be  of  greatest  value  to  their  country  in  the 
great  conflict.  Consequently  the  tests  had  to  be  among 
other  things  so  designed  as  to  be  capable  of  quick  correc- 
tion and  evaluation. 

Inasmuch  as  no  one  was  able  accurately  and  exactly 
to  describe  military  availability  our  psychologists  had  in- 
deed a  doubly  difficult  task  set  before  them.  The  wonder- 
ful degree  of  success  that  attended  their  efforts  cannot  but 
thrill  us  all,  not  only  with  admiration,  but  with  a  pardon- 
able feeling  of  patriotic  pride  that  our  American  psychol- 
ogists were  able  to  work  out  a  satisfactory  solution  of 
such  an  indescribably  difficult  problem. 

The  result  of  the  patriotic  labors  of  our  American 
psychologists  was  first  to  assist  mightily  in  bringing  suc- 
cess to  our  efforts  to  win  the  war,  but  the  second  result 
seems  to  be  of  almost  equal  value  and  permanence.  The 
tests  designed  for  our  soldiers  and  sailors,  when  modified 
to  meet  the  present  conditions,  seem  to  be  capable  —  in- 


24  THE  JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL  IDEA 

deed  have  proved  capable  —  of  use  in  forecasting  instead 
of  military  availability  the  thing  we  teachers  are  so  inter- 
ested in  —  the  probable  school  success  of  our  boys  and 
girls. 

However,  it  must  be  kept  in  mind  that  while  these 
tests  may  have  a  more  or  less  general  application  to  all 
lines  of  human  endeavor,  the  most  trustworthy  forecasts 
will  come  from  specialized  tests.  Such  tests  have  been 
and  are  being  worked  out  to  forecast  the  ability  of  in- 
dividuals to  enter  upon  certain  definite  lines  of  work. 
We  may  have  one  series  of  tests  for  men  who  are  plan- 
ning to  become  translators  and  quite  another  series  for 
those  who  are  planning  to  become  civil  engineers.  No 
single  series  is  capable  of  giving  forecasts  of  a  very  high 
degree  of  probability  for  all  occupations,  and  yet  it  seems 
possible  to  determine  to  a  remarkable  degree  of  certainty 
what  we  may  call  for  want  of  a  better  name  general 
native  ability.  We  seem  to  be  able  to  discover  by  these 
mental  tests  what  we  might  call  the  basic  mental  alert- 
ness of  those  who  are  examined.  A  reasonable  degree  of 
this  basic  alertness  or  general  native  ability  seems  neces- 
sary for  success  in  ANY  line  of  work.  If  we  can  add  to 
the  results  of  our  tests  in  general  ability  tests  in  special 
ability  we  can  secure  forecasts  of  really  wonderful  prog- 
nostic value.  These  are  the  tests  that  are  now  being 
worked  out  in  all  the  leading  psychological  laboratories 
of  our  American  colleges. 

Though  our  special  tests  are  still  but  partially  devel- 
oped, we  have  now  several  tests  of  general  ability  that 
are  of  tremendous  value  in  forecasting  school  success, 
which  seems  to  require  among  other  things  this  general 
native  ability  which  we  have  just  discussed. 

The  great  value  of  these  tests  in  school  work  will  later 
be  considered;  just  now  it  is  worth  while  to  note  the 


PROGNOSTIC   TESTS   IN   ADMINISTRATION       25 

ease  with  which  we  may  secure  prognostications  of  un- 
doubted value. 

(  It  is  possible  as  a  result  of  the  work  of  our  Amer- 
ican psychologists  in  the  World  War  to  test  at  one  and 
the  same  time  as  many  pupils  as  can  be  seated  in  any 
school  building  with  reasonable  precaution  against  dis- 
turbances and  intercommunications  of  any  kind.  It  is 
possible  for  any  intelligent  teacher  to  conduct  these  tests 
after  less  than  an  hour  of  preparation  and  with  no  previ- 
ous psychological  training.  Finally  it  is  possible  to  cor- 
rect and  tabulate  the  results  of  these  tests  without  special 
training  and  with  a  remarkably  small  expenditure  of 
time  and  energy. 

From  the  tabulated  results  of  such  a  group  test,  it  is 
possible  for  the  faculty  of  any  school,  before  their  enter- 
ing pupils  have  been  divided  into  classes  or  have  prepared 
even  a  single  recitation,  to  determine  with  a  high  de- 
gree of  probability  the  future  success  or  failure  of  every 
pupil  in  the  entering  class. 

However,  we  must  not  let  our  enthusiasm  for  these 
tests  lead  us  to  forget  that  all  the  tests  yet  published 
are  still  in  the  formative  period  and  are  approximate 
rather  than  definite  forecasts  of  school  success.  We  are 
most  safe  when  we  apply  the  results  of  our  tests  to 
groups  rather  than  to  individuals.  We  must  not  go  so 
far  as  to  say  that  Smith,  whose  results  are  five  per  cent 
lower  than  Brown's,  will  prove  a  less  able  student.  We 
cannot  as  yet  make  sharp  and  definite  divisions  between 
individuals  though  we  can  unfailingly  do  so  between 
groups.  It  is  quite  possible  if  we  arrange  our  pupils  ac- 
cording to  their  rating  into  five  consecutive  groups  from 
the  highest  to  the  lowest,  to  say  with  no  fear  of  having 
our  statement  later  disproved,  that  a  boy  in  the  highest 
group  has,  for  example,  ten  times  or  so  the  chance  of 


26  THE   JUNIOR  HIGH   SCHOOL  IDEA 

success  that  a  boy  has  if  in  the  lowest  group,  or  twice 
the  chances  of  success  of  that  boy  whose  test  places  him 
in  the  middle  group.  Indeed  for  the  purposes  of  our 
school  work  it  is  not  necessary  for  us  to  know  so  defi- 
nitely the  comparative  value  of  the  ratings  of  any  two 
isolated  pupils.  The  greatest  value  of  our  psychological 
tests  is  the  ability  it  gives  us  to  group  our  pupils  into 
classes  of  approximately  equal  ability  where  it  is  possi- 
ble for  the  instructor  to  be  absolutely  sure  that  whatever 
is  within  the  comprehension  of  the  middle  group  of  the 
pupils  of  his  class  will  be  within  the  reach  of  all. 

The  economy  of  teaching  effort  secured  by  such  a 
grouping  is  remarkable.  The  progress  of  such  a  group 
is  regular  and  constant.  The  speed  with  which  new 
work  may  be  taken  up  or  old  work  reviewed  is  the  same 
for  any  group  of  equal  psychological  rank.  Under  ideal 
conditions  where  the  body  of  entering  pupils  is  sufficiently 
large  it  is  possible  to  have  a  class  of  forty  pupils  that  is 
almost  as  one  individual  for  the  work  of  instruction. 

Where  the  pupils  tested  are  few  it  may  be  necessary 
to  seat  in  one  class  pupils  of  widely  different  native  abili- 
ity ;  no  homogeneous  grouping  may  be  possible.  Yet  even 
there  the  teacher  is  able  to  distinguish  more  surely  than 
by  class  results  between  those  who  fail  from  laziness  and 
those  who  fail  from  simple  lack  of  "brains"  —  and 
equally  between  those  who  succeed  without  effort  and 
those  who  gain  success  only  by  the  hardest  kind  of  work. 
Castigations  and  commendations  will  be  more  nearly 
meted  out  on  a  basis  of  truth  and  justice  in  a  previously 
tested  class  than  can  be  possible  under  any  other  plan 
no  matter  how  able  may  be  the  teacher  in  charge. 

For  the  junior  high  school  more  than  for  any  other 
educational  institution  the  mental  tests  of  today  are  of 
genuine  practical  value.    We  have  pupils  who  have  fin- 


PROGNOSTIC   TESTS   IN   ADMINISTRATION       27 

ished  the  sixth  grammar  grade  and  who  now  look  for- 
ward to  a  three  years'  course  probably  leading  them  into 
senior  high  school  work.  If  we  consider  this  three  years' 
work  as  outlined  in  our  official  course  of  study,  not  as 
the  work  which  we  must  be  occupied  with  for  three  years, 
but  as  a  certain  aggregate  quantity  of  work  to  be  covered 
by  each  pupil  with  a  certain  predetermined  degree  of 
success  we  have  a  better  point  of  view  for  our  purpose. 

Our  task  is  then  to  take  our  pupils  over  a  certain 
amount  of  work  with  a  certain  "passing"  degree  of  ac- 
complishment. For  convenience  and  as  a  result  of  ex- 
perience, trial  and  error,  we  have  found  that,  on  the 
whole,  three  years  seems  a  reasonable  amount  of  time  to 
grant  our  "average"  pupil  in  which  to  do  this  work. 

However,  if  now  with  the  results  of  our  mental  tests  in 
hand  we  find  many  pupils  who  show  promise  of  being 
able  to  do  the  work  in  two  j^ears,  why  then  must  we  com- 
pel them  to  take  an  added  year  to  do  this  work  simply 
because  others  cannot  progress  as  rapidly?  On  the  other 
hand,  if  our  mental  tests  discover  (as  they  almost  always 
will  do)  a  group  that  cannot  possibly  do  the  work  in 
the  three  years,  why  then  must  this  group  be  pushed 
ahead  at  a  rate  of  speed  that  will  make  their  future  fail- 
ure inevitable  —  not  of  necessity  because  they 
cannot  do  the  work— but  because  they  cannot  do  the 
work  at  the  rate  of  speed  our  school  conventions  re- 
quire. 

We  educators  have  been  accused  of  maintaining  in  our 
courses  of  study  procrustean  beds  upon  which  our  pupils 
are  forced  to  lie,  and  in  part  our  critics  and  accusers  have 
been  right.  Yet  all  this  has  been  because  we  have  endeav- 
ored to  give  our  "average  pupil"  the  consideration  which 
we  believed  was  his  due  in  the  matter  of  time  allowance. 
Because  we  have  had  to  work  with  large  groups  of  un- 


28  THE  JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL  IDEA 

certain  mental  adaptability  and  because  until  very,  very 
recently  we  have  been  unable  to  forecast  the  time  element 
in  education  with  any  trustworthy  degree  of  accuracy, 
we  have  —  to  their  undoubted  injury  for  life  —  chopped 
off  the  bright  and  stretched  out  the  dull  so  that  they 
might  fit  the  bed  of  our  average  time  allowance  of  so 
many  years  for  so  much  work. 

The  change  that  will  come,  or  has  come,  begins  with 
our  turning  our  faces  toward  the  work  to  be  done  as  so 
much  actual  subject  matter  to  be  studied  and  covered 
with  whatever  degree  of  accuracy  we  may  decide  upon. 
The  trouble  has  been  that  in  the  past  we  appear  to  have 
been  regarding  the  time  element  as  the  real  essential. 
Four  years  of  secondary  education  appear  to  have  been 
agreed  upon  as  necessary.  Having  first  decided  upon  the 
time  to  be  spent  in  secondary  education,  it  then  became 
necessary  to  find  the  subjects  to  fill  the  time  so  as- 
signed. 

With  the  improvement  of  our  mental  tests,  good  as 
they  are  at  present,  we  may  hope  to  find  the  primary  em- 
phasis placed  upon  the  ivork  itself  and  only  secondary 
importance  attached  to  time.  After  all  if  the  work  is  well 
done,  as  established  by  as  searching  tests  as  may  be  nec- 
essary, why  do  we  need  to  concern  ourselves  so  vitally 
with  the  element  of  time?  Is  it  not  more  vital  for  edu- 
cational advancement  for  us  to  know  that  a  boy  has  an 
accurate  and  facile  acquaintance  with  "elementary  alge- 
bra through  quadratics"  than  to  know  that  he  has  had 
"a  year  of  algebra." 

Part  of  the  reform  must  come  through  our  colleges, 
who  have  in  most  cases  laid  down  the  time  requirements 
for  our  secondary  schools.  In  the  meanwhile  it  remains 
for  our  junior  high  schools  to  be  real  pioneers.  AVe  are 
less  hampered  at  present  by  tradition,  by  prescribed 


PROGNOSTIC   TESTS   IN   ADMINISTRATION       29 

regulations,  by  domination  from  any  source  than  are  the 
schools  of  any  other  grades  below  the  college. 

By  considering  the  work  of  the  junior  high  school  as  so 
much  work  to  be  done,  whether  in  one,  two,  three  or  four 
years,  we  are  making  an  advance  that  marks  an  epoch  in 
education. 

We  are  able  to  take  this  new  point  of  view  only  be- 
cause through  perhaps  a  happy  accident  the  growth  of 
the  junior  high  schools  and  of  the  prognostic  tests  of 
school  success  were  coincident  in  point  of  time. 

If  our  estimation  of  those  mental  tests  is  the  correct 
one  the  junior  high  school  that  does  not  avail  itself 
of  the  forecasts  now  within  reach  falls  far  short  of  its 
service  to  the  schools  of  today. 

For  the  benefit  of  those  of  our  readers  who  are  inter- 
ested in  more  details  concerning  the  success  of  prog- 
nostic mental  measurements  the  following  pages  of  this 
chapter  are  designed: 

Since  1915  the  Speyer  Experimental  Junior  High  School 
has  been  using  tests  of  general  native  ability  for  grad- 
ing all  its  entering  pupils  into  classes  where  pupils 
of  approximately  equal  ability  might  work  together. 

The  mental  tests  were  given  as  soon  as  possible  —  re- 
cently on  the  first  day  —  after  the  new  pupils  were  ad- 
mitted. 

Following  these  tests  by  some  seven  or  eight  weeks 
these  same  pupils  were  given  another  uniform  examina- 
tion, this  time  upon  the  school  work  they  had  covered 
since  entering.  This  final  grading,  which  with  oc- 
casional exceptions,  endured  during  the  pupils'  stay  at 
Speyer,  was  made  by  combining  the  results  of  the  two 
scries  of  tests: — the  psychological  and  those  based  on 
school  work.  No  two  sets  of  psychological  tests  given  the 
entering  pupils  were  the  same  —  new  combinations  being 


30  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

used  and  new  tests  introduced  as  each  succeeding  group 
entered  the  school.  The  work  of  correcting,  weighing  and 
combining  the  results  of  these  earlier  tests  was  very 
heavy.  One  group  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  entering  pu- 
pils was  given  no  less  than  thirteen  short  tests  within 
three  days.  To  evaluate  the  results  of  these  tests  required 
the  extra  time  of  three  or  four  teachers  for  more  than  two 
weeks.  Recently  Speyer  School  has  been  using  modified 
forms  of  the  Army  Intelligence  Test  —  booklets  of  five 
or  six  short  tests  for  which  the  pupils  were  given  a  little 
over  an  hour  in  all.  The  results  of  these  tests  were  scored 
and  tabulated  by  two  teachers  in  one  evening's  work. 
The  classifications  made  as  a  result  of  the  shorter  tests 
have  not  been  on  the  whole  as  exact  as  those  of  some  of 
the  longer  ones,  but  the  saving  in  time  and  energy  seems 
to  warrant  the  change. 

In  the  opinion  of  those  who  studied  the  classification 
and  grading  of  the  pupils  at  Speyer  the  tests  of  native 
mental  ability  were,  on  the  whole,  not  measures  but  rather 
approximations  of  school  success. 

We  came  to  believe  that  other  factors  not  measured  as 
yet  were  of  great  importance,  for  example,  industry,  sys- 
tem and  regularity  in  home  study  and  a  serious  purpose 
in  work  are  factors  of  almost  as  great  importance  as 
actual  native  ability.  Taking  an  illustration  from  the 
financial  world  we  came  to  believe  that  each  pupil's 
native  ability  represented  his  inherited  fortune  —  large  or 
small  as  the  case  might  be.  The  returns  on  this  inher- 
ited money  when  reinvested  by  the  pupil  in  school  suc- 
cess varied  as  the  pupil  who  invested  this  inheritance  did 
so  wisely  or  foolishly.  The  wise  (persevering  and  indus- 
trious) pupil  made  such  an  investment  as  to  give  him  a 
high  rate  of  interest  and  a  large  yearly  return  in  school 
success.    The  foolish  (lazy  and  inattentive)  pupil,  though 


PROGNOSTIC   TESTS   IN   ADMINISTRATION       31 

possibly  with  a  larger  inherited  capital,  through  a  poor 
investment  of  it  secured  a  lower  annual  return  than  others 
with  less  inheritance.  In  a  word  the  boy's  hereditary 
ability  was  his  principal,  his  industry  was  his  rate  per 
cent  and  his  school  success  was  his  annual  interest. 

However,  more  recently  we  have  come  to  believe  that 
certain  combinations  of  mental  tests  will  measure  both 
ability  and  industry  at  one  and  the  same  time. 

Our  conversion  to  this  point  of  view  came  as  the  result 
of  a  series  of  tests  given  by  Leo  H.  King,  at  the  time  a 
graduate  student  at  Teachers  College,  Columbia  Univer- 
sity. King  took  entire  charge  of  testing  the  mentality 
of  the  275  pupils  that  entered  Speyer  Experimental  Junior 
High  School  in  February  1919,  he  not  only  gave  the  tests 
but  corrected  and  tabulated  the  results. 

On  the  basis  of  the  measurements  given  us  by  King  we 
divided  the  entering  class  pupils  into  a  sequence  of  eight 
classes  of  approximately  thirty-four  pupils  each.  Taking 
the  first  thirty-four  from  the  list  of  pupils  arranged  in 
order  of  their  success  in  these  tests,  we  formed  them  into 
one  class,  the  next  thirty-four  into  the  second  class  and  so 
on  until  the  eighth  class  was  made  up  of  those  who  stood 
at  the  bottom  of  the  list. 

Seven  weeks  later  we  gave  the  same  pupils  a  series  of 
uniform  examinations  upon  the  school  work  they  had 
covered  since  entering.  As  a  result  of  our  school  tests  we 
changed  the  classification  of  some  twenty-five  of  our 
275  entering  pupils,  placing  each  pupil,  whose  general 
ratings  in  our  subject-matter  examination  indicated  the 
necessity  of  a  change,  with  that  class  whose  median  rating 
in  our  examination  was  most  nearly  like  his  own. 

After  some  twenty  weeks  of  school  work  (actually  in 
November  1919)  we  gave  another  uniform  set  of  school 
examinations  to  determine  the  relative  progress  of  the 


32  THE  JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL  IDEA 

eight  classes  of  this  same  group.  Again  about  twenty- 
five  pupils  showed  by  their  general  ratings  that  a  change 
in  class  was  necessary  and  while  these  changes  were 
under  discussion  the  earlier  ratings  given  us  by  King  were 
reviewed.  Imagine  our  surprise  to  find  that  each  pupil 
whose  latest  record  called  for  a  change  in  class  showed 
that  he  should  be  returned  to  the  very  class  in  which  he 
wras  first  placed  by  our  earlier  mental  measurements  and 
from  which  we  had  him  taken  twenty  school  weeks  be- 
fore. 

This  experience  shattered  our  belief  in  the  necessity  of 
holding  to  the  "principal  and  interest  theory"  which  we 
had  come  to  support.  We  believe  that  while  all  standard 
psychological  tests  do  not  measure  both  ability  and  indus- 
try, certain  combinations  have  done  and  will  do  this.  At 
the  present  writing,  sixty  school  weeks  later,  we  have 
found  no  reason  for  changing  any  of  these  pupils  from 
their  original  class  groups. 

The  chief  contribution  made  by  King  was  the  peculiar 
combination  of  tests  designed  to  detect  different  abilities. 
There  were  nineteen  different  tests  in  all  that  were  used 
and  these  were  grouped  into  six  different  series.  The  par- 
ticular contribution  that  will  be  made  in  the  future  will 
consist  in  the  manner  in  which  the  tests  are  set  up.  This 
particular  series  included  both  verbal  and  non-verbal 
tests,  in  all  the  various  forms  which  have  been  used  by 
Otis,  Thorndike,  Terman  and  others. 

These  were  the  tests  used : 

NON-VERBAL 
Series  I 

1  Figure  series  completion 

2  Figure  cutting 

3  Figure  association 

4  Picture  analogy 


PROGNOSTIC   TESTS   IN   ADMINISTRATION       33 


Series  II 

5 

Picture  completion 

6 

Picture  analogy- 

7 

Object  association 

S 

Fundamental  arithmetical  processes 

VERBAL 

Series  III 

9 

Easy  directions 

10 

Arithmetic 

11 

Reasoning 

12 

Word  analogy 

13 

Opposites 

14 

Number  interpretation 

15 

Number  perception 

16 

Information 

17 

Briggs  analogy 

18. 

Kelley-Trabue  completion 

19 

Thorndike  reading 

As  a  result  of  these  tests  just  discussed  the  teachers 
of  Speyer  School  now  believe  that  it  is  possible  to  make 
a  classification  of  pupils  on  their  entering  week  that  un- 
der normal  conditions  should  endure  throughout  their 
course.  Granted  that  pupils  of  lower  ability  may  spurt 
ahead  and  pupils  of  higher  ability  may  drop  behind,  it  is 
still  for  neither  type  their  natural  gait.  The  less  able  pu- 
pil who  advances  himself  by  extraordinary  effort  finds 
that  he  is  unable  to  keep  up  the  strained  pace  set  by  his 
more  able  fellows  and  sooner  or  later  drops  back  to  his 
natural  group.  Similarly,  the  bright  pupil  who  falls  be- 
hind finds  his  lower  class  progress  slow,  dull  and  uninter- 
esting and  soon  takes  up  his  natural  gait  and  rejoins  his 
original  group. 

Of  course  all  our  prognostications  are  based  on  the 
pre-supposition  "other  things  being  equal."  It  is  not  to 
be  supposed  that  the  bright  pupil  who  is  employed  in 


34  THE  JUNIOR  HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

a  store  many  hours  each  day  can  furnish  the  quality  of 
school  work  that  his  mental  measurements  would  show 
to  be  his  natural  product.  Nor  is  it  to  be  supposed  that 
the  slower  pupil  whose  parents  exact  an  excessive  amount 
of  school  preparation  will  fail  to  rise  slightly  above  his 
fellows  of  equal  ability  who  have  no  such  restrictions. 
For  the  teacher  it  is  enough  to  know  that  if  a  pupil  of 
superior  ability  as  shown  by  the  mental  tests  fails  to 
deliver  that  quality  of  work  which  these  tests  forecast, 
that  there  is  some  cause  to  be  sought  outside  the  class 
room.  Knowing  that  there  must  be  a  cause  gives  faith 
to  persevere  until  the  cause  is  found.  Having  found  the 
cause  the  teacher  is  in  a  position  to  apply  the  remedy 
if  one  exists.  From  every  standpoint  then  the  results 
of  standard  prognostic  tests  are  valuable  to  the  teacher 
even  more  than  to  the  administrator. 

While  few  schools  can  command  the  services  of  ex- 
perts, the  results  of  the  tests  just  described  give  us  reason 
to  hope  that  there  may  be  evolved  in  the  not  far  distant 
future  a  series  of  tests  easy  to  conduct,  and  easy  also 
to  correct  and  tabulate,  which  may  give  a  remarkably 
accurate  forecast  of  any  child's  chances  of  school  success. 

In  the  meanwhile  it  appears  to  be  the  duty  of  all 
junior  high  schools  to  use  such  tests  as  we  now  have  so 
that  we  do  not  lose  the  ninety  per  cent  accuracy  now 
available  while  we  are  waiting  for  perfection. 

Note:  The  Bureau  of  Publications,  Teachers  College,  N.  Y., 
and  the  World  Book  Co.,  Yonkers,  N.  Y.,  will  supply  at 
moderate  cost  tests,  with  the  hand-book  that  tells  exactly 
how  the  tests  must  be  given,  to  those  not  already  supplied 
with  this  information. 

1.  When  and  why  were  the  group  tests  of  general  intelligence 
first  widely  employed? 


PROGNOSTIC  TESTS   IN   ADMINISTRATION       35 

2.  What    tests    of   general    intelligence    had   been    previously 

published    and    why    could    not    these    earlier    tests    be 
generally  employed? 

3.  What    do    our   newer    psychological   tests    for    school    use 

attempt  to  measure? 

4.  What    discrimination    must    we    avoid    making    from    the 

results  of  our  group  tests  of  school  success? 

5.  What  gain  may  I  expect  if  I  am  given  a  group  of  homo- 

geneous ability  to  teach? 

6.  What  earlier  assumption  concerning  the  findings  of  general 

intelligence  tests  seems  to  have  been  disproved  at  Speyer 
School? 

7.  What  is  the  line  of  improvement  that  must  be  followed 

in  making  up  newer  and  better  tests  of  school  success? 

8.  What   do  I   need   to  know   in   order   to   give  these   tests 

myself  ? 


CHAPTER  III 

SPEED  GROUPING  IN  THE  JUNIOR  HIGH 
SCHOOL 

Though  it  has  long  been  recognized  that  all  pupils 
do  not  acquire,  or  assimilate  in  school,  new  subject-mat- 
ter or  new  processes  at  the  same  rate  of  speed,  never- 
theless, the  country  over,  little  definite  progress  has  been 
made  in  working  out  a  definite  plan,  capable  of  general 
application,  which  would  make  promotions  adaptable 
to  the  pupils'  native  or  hereditary  rate  of  speed  in  learn- 
ing. 

Pupils  have  long  been  grouped  in  classes  of  thirty 
or  more  where  an  official  printed  outline  or  syllabus  of 
work  determined  in  advance  the  amount  of  school  work 
that  each  class  should  attempt  to  cover  in  a  semester  or 
in  a  longer  definite  period  of  time. 

Nevertheless,  in  each  normal  or  average  class  have 
been  found  pupils  whose  natural  or  inherited  ability 
would  enable  them  to  progress  at  twice  the  rate  of  learn- 
ing proposed  for  the  class.  Similarly,  there  have  been 
found  pupils  whose  rate  of  learning  is  so  slow  that  they 
could  never  hope  to  learn  in  even  double  the  prescribed 
time  the  officially  designated  facts  or  processes,  required 
to  pass"  in  the  work  of  their  grade. 

Between  these  two  extremes  is  a  middle  group  that. 
on  the  whole,  finds  the  time  allowance  for  the  work 
planned  fairly  satisfactory  for  their  inherited  abilities, 
but  this  middle  group  in  every  class  is  by  no  means 
sharply  defined.    From  the  pupils  that  learn  most  rap- 

36 


SPEED   GROUPING  IN  THE   SCHOOL  37 

idly  to  those  that  learn  most  slowly  there  is  usually  a 
gradual  falling  off  in  the  rate  of  learning  that  is  scarcely 
perceptible  when  we  measure  the  differences  between 
two  contiguous  pupils  in  such  a  sequence. 

The  loss  sustained  by  pupils  in  the  usual  school  class 
is  not  always  fully  appreciated.  We  have  been  in  the 
habit  of  assuming  that  pupils,  who  naturally  learn  more 
quickly  than  the  average  of  their  class,  suffer  nothing 
more  serious  than  the  theoretical  loss  of  time  spent  in 
doing  more  slowly  with  the  class,  the  things  that  they 
could  do  more  quickly  if  not  held  back  to  keep  step  with 
the  group. 

However,  this  loss  is  by  far  the  smaller  one  in  my 
estimation,  when  compared  with  certain  habits  of  lazi- 
ness that  these  brighter  pupils  are  actually  being  taught 
in  their  progress  through  the  school  grades. 

Pupils  who  learn  the  new  work,  appreciate  the  new 
processes,  assimilate  the  new  facts  well  in  advance  of 
their  classmates,  are  both  a  delight  and  a  nuisance  to 
their  teacher.  They  are  a  delight  in  that  they  may  be 
early  checked  off  by  the  teacher  as  needing  no  further 
attention,  on  her  part,  in  the  lesson  at  hand.  They  are 
a  nuisance  in  so  far  as  they  insist  upon  volunteering  in- 
formation which  the  teacher  is  laboriously  endeavoring 
to  develop  from  the  mental  processes  of  the  slower  pupils 
of  the  class.  As  a-  result,  the  brighter  pupils  suffer  a 
very  decided  repression  in  the  class  room  which  dulls 
their  eagerness  to  work  by  lessening  their  desire  to  make 
self  active  contributions. 

The  skilled  teacher  who  is  striving  earnestly  to  keep 
her  class  together  and  to  secure  a  high  percentage  of 
promotions  at  the  end  of  the  year  knows  that  she  will 
obtain  the  best  results  for  her  group  as  a  whole,  if  she 
devotes  ninety  per  cent  of  her  energies  toward  instructing 

51968 


38  THE  JUNIOR  HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

that  small  group  that  is  stationed  just  on  the  dange*  line 
of  failure.  The  ten  or  fifteen  per  cent  that  is  "hopeless" 
she  wisely  does  not  attempt  to  lead  in  an  effort  that  is 
inevitably  foredoomed  to  failure.  The  brightest  pupils, 
on  the  other  hand,  "will  take  care  of  themselves."  If 
the  teacher  but  aims  to  fit  her  instruction  to  the  intelli- 
gence of  the  moderately  slow,  the  danger  line  group,  she 
will  surely  include  the  intelligence  of  all  of  average  or 
higher  ability.  Therefore  the  teacher  of  experience  learns 
to  concentrate  her  energies  on  the  minds  of  those  pupils 
who  are  below,  but  not  hopelessly  below,  the  average  in- 
telligence of  her  class.  Years  of  teaching  have  shown  her 
that  such  a  plan  brings  the  greatest  good  to  the  greatest 
number  —  if  percentages  of  pupils  promoted  is  a  measure 
of  that  good. 

However,  in  very  recent  years,  indeed  chiefly  with  the 
past  year,  there  has  come  a  better  appreciation  of  the  loss 
the  brighter,  or  quicker,  pupils  suffer  from  the  treatment 
they  receive  even  in  the  average  class  described. 

In  the  first  place  these  quicker  learning  pupils  are  de- 
nied that  training  in  effort  which  is  necessary  not  only  to 
the  fullest  development  of  their  minds,  but  equally  to  the 
highest  development  of  their  moral  characters.  To  gain 
promotion  from  grade  to  grade  it  is  only  necessary  for  the 
quicker  pupils  to  be  reasonably  attentive,  or  perhaps  only 
sporadically  attentive,  to  the  instruction  others  are  re- 
ceiving, if  only  at  the  same  time  they  be  reasonably  po- 
lite, quiet  and  inactive  while  the  slower  ones  are  receiv- 
ing the  teacher's  earnest  efforts. 

A  very  careful  analysis  of  the  requirements  laid  upon 
the  more  capable  students  in  each  average  class  will  force 
us  to  realize  that  these  pupils  are  actually  being  forced  to 
acquire  habits  of  laziness  in  order  to  adapt  them- 
selves to  their  customary  school  surroundings. 


SPEED   GROUPING  IN  THE   SCHOOL  39 

This  discovery,  if  such  it  may  be  called,  was  forced 
upon  me  in  my  position  as  supervisor  of  some  classes 
composed  almost  entirely  of  boys  of  very  unusual  mental 
ability  in  Speyer  Experimental  Junior  High  School.  From 
some  twenty  neighboring  schools  there  are  promoted 
semi-annually  to  Speyer  the  pupils  ranking  in  the  upper 
quarter  of  the  sixth  year  grades  just  completed.  Among 
these  pupils  so  promoted  are  some  who,  by  psychological 
tests,  possess  intellects  very  far  above  the  average  to  be 
found  in  the  usual  public  school  classes  —  class  leaders 
in  the  various  schools  from  which  they  come. 

It  would  be  but  fair  to  assume  that  if  we  could  form  a 
class  composed  of  class  leaders,  school  work  of  a  quality 
and  quantity  heretofore  impossible  could  be  at  once  se- 
cured. 

The  surprise  and  disappointment  that  is  bound  (it 
would  seem  almost  inevitably)  to  follow  from  a  study  of 
the  actual  work  of  such  a  class  is  more  than  startling. 
Though  we  are  assured  by  their  previous  school  records 
that  these  pupils  have  been  class  leaders,  though  the  psy- 
chological tests  show  them  to  have  remarkable  native 
ability,  or  general  intelligence  —  still  we  find  their  prog- 
ress halting  and  scarcely  better  than  "average"  for  a 
while  at  least. 

It  is  both  amusing  and  disheartening  to  witness  the 
first  lessons  in  such  a  newly  assembled  class.  No  one 
seems  over  anxious  to  learn.  There  is  little  or  no  compe- 
tition or  rivalry  for  leadership.  Most  decidedly  there  is 
no  conscious  effort  put  forth  by  any  appreciable 
fraction  of  the  class!  The  whole  attitude  of  such  a  class 
might  be  summed  up  as  "watchful  waiting"  —  waiting  for 
the  teacher  to  struggle  with  the  class  dullards  and  so  to 
give  them,  the  brighter,  a  chance  to  absorb  the  new  work 
without  effort.    There  being  no  dullards,  this  class  of  class 


40  THE   JUNIOR  HIGH   SCHOOL  IDEA 

leaders  often  merely  slumps  into  mediocrity  for  an  appre- 
ciable period  and  is  frequently  surpassed  for  the  first 
years  work  by  a  group  of  children  of  far  less  ability. 

But  there  is  further  evidence  to  support  the  belief  that 
pupils  of  unusual  mental  ability,  sufficiently  docile,  are 
being  taught  habits  of  laziness.  This  evidence  comes 
from  the  extremely  accurate  and  complete  records  kept 
for  the  pupils  of  a  large  privately  endowed  parental 
school  where  selected  children  of  a  school  age  are  housed 
and  cared  for  as  only  in  the  more  fortunate  homes.  The 
head  of  this  institution  has  applied  individual  psychologi- 
cal tests  to  his  wards  ever  since  the  tests  have  reached  a 
reasonable  degree  of  trustworthiness,  for  some  five  years 
back  at  least.  Records  are  also  kept  of  each  pupil's 
monthly  success  in  school  work  and  when  these  pupils 
leave  school  a  very  careful  follow-up  system  keeps  track 
of  their  success  in  industry  or  business. 

The  interesting  and  pertinent  fact  is  that  the  records 
to  date  show  that  the  highest  degree  of  success  in  em- 
ployment is  secured  by  those  pupils  who  are  measured 
as  of  average,  or  normal  ability.  The  pupils  who  were 
rated  as  decidedly  above  the  average  seem  so  far  to 
fare  no  better  than  those  markedly  below  the  average 
when  they  are  thrown  upon  their  own  resources. 

The  possible  explanations  for  such  a  situation  are 
countless,  but  seen  from  the  angle  of  the  mental  habits 
acquired  by  these  pupils  in  school  I  venture  to  insist 
that  one  cause  of  this  slump  in  progress  is  the  training 
in  habits  of  laziness,  which  these  quicker  pupils  have  un- 
consciously been  receiving  during  their  eight  or  more 
years  in  the  class  room.  All  unconsciously  to  themselves, 
to  their  teachers,  or  to  their  guardians,  these  quicker 
learning  children  have  been  trained  in  ways  of  easy 
knowledge  and  when  in  employment  it  seems  but  fair 


SPEED   GROUPING  IN  THE   SCHOOL  41 

to  assume  that  easy  jobs  and  easy  money  would  be  their 
natural  and  first  consideration. 

Here,  then,  is  a  situation  which,  even  if  it  be  not  as 
black  as  I  have  painted  it,  is  still  so  serious  in  its  possi- 
bilities for  harm  as  to  demand  the  attention  of  the  best 
minds  that  are  at  work  on  our  present-day  school  prob- 
lems. Are  we  not  conducting  our  public  schools  today  in 
a  way  which  may  make  those  children  who  should  con- 
tribute the  most  to  our  nation's  mental,  spiritual  and 
material  progress  the  least  able  to  make  their  rightful 
contribution? 

Having  considered  the  harm  that  may  easily  come — 
does  usually  come  —  to  those  who  naturally  are  able  to 
progress  in  school  at  a  much  more  rapid  rate  than  the 
average  of  a  normal  class,  let  us  now  consider  those  who 
find  the  progress  of  their  class  always  just  a  little  too 
fast  for  their  slower  powers  of  acquisition.  In  this  class 
I  do  not  place  the  mentally  defective,  at  least  two  in 
every  two  hundred  of  our  school  population,  but  those 
who  can,  and  in  many  cases  do,  "pass"  from  grade  to 
grade  in  school,  always  just  by  a  hair's  breadth  man- 
aging to  escape  the  official  line  marked  "failure."  These 
pupils,  though  regarded  as  "promotions,"  are  still  recog- 
nized and  often  labelled  as  dullards.  Their  limping  in- 
tellects seem  never  able  to  progress  without  the  teacher's 
help.  Sometimes  they  seem  to  be  patient,  plodding,  oxen- 
like  creatures  who  are  willing  to  do  their  best  while  know- 
ing that  even  their  best  is  not  really  very  good.  Some- 
times they  are  rebellious,  sulky,  antagonistic  boys  and 
girls  who  cause  their  teacher  many  weary  days  and 
sleepless  nights  —  stealing  from  their  classmates  each 
day  the  attention  and  the  energy  of  the  teacher,  who  feels 
she  must  give  all  her  time  to  instruction  and  none  to 
discipline  if  her  class  is  to  cover  the  work  of  its  grade. 


42  THE  JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL  IDEA 

From  class  to  class  these  slow-learning  pupils  may  be 
passed  onward  and  upward,  always  more  or  less  deficient 
in  the  work  of  the  grade  they  are  leaving,  always  more 
or  less  unable  to  undertake  the  work  of  the  grade  just 
ahead.  If  seventy  per  cent  is  the  passing  mark,  these 
slower-learning  pupils  may  be  credited  with  never  know- 
ing more  than  two  of  every  three  facts  or  processes  the 
teacher  has  attempted  to  teach  them. 

If  they  can  add  a  column  of  figures  correctly  two  times 
in  three,  they  have  reached  66  -J-  %,  almost  enough  for 
promotion.  If  they  write  with  a  reasonable  degree  of 
correctness  twice  in  three  trials,  they  may  hope  for  a 
passing  mark.  If  they  get  two  thirds  of  the  facts  in  their 
geography  lesson  or  fail  in  but  one  third  of  their  explana- 
tions of  historical  events,  they  "pass,"  but  nowhere  if 
promoted  regularly  do  they  ever  gain  an  appreciation  of 
thoroughness  in  their  school  work. 

Let  us  frankly  admit  that  for  a  considerable  fraction 
of  our  class  —  the  submerged  third,  let  us  say  —  there 
is  being  given  a  training  in  habits  of  half-doing,  or  of 
failure  that  cannot  fail  to  work  harm  when  these  pupils 
are  sooner  or  later  thrown  on  their  own  resources. 

Many  of  these  pupils  are  practically  never  given  an 
opportunity  to  do  their  work  in  any  subject,  because  the 
pace  set  for  the  average,  or  normal,  child  is  always  too 
fast  for  them  to  stay  long  enough  on  any  one  topic  or 
process  to  get  it  thoroughly  in  mind. 

To  be  sure,  if  these  slow-learning  pupils  should  be  so 
slow  as  to  lose  promotion  at  the  end  of  any  school  term, 
they  may  repeat  the  work  of  their  grade  and  may  learn 
some  of  their  work  more  thoroughly.  However,  in  this 
very  repetition  there  is  the  stigma  of  previous  failure 
attached  to  the  slow  pupil.  It  would  almost  seem  that 
for  some  pupils  in  every  school  grade  their  only  hope  of 


SPEED   GROUPING  IN  THE  SCHOOL  43 

thoroughness  lies  in  failure  —  an  anomaly  —  but  an  in- 
dictment of  our  usual  school  organization  to  cause  us  no 
small  alarm. 

In  considering  these  slower  learning  pupils'  progress 
in  school,  I  have  often  considered  the  similarity  of  their 
case  to  my  own  when  as  a  passenger  in  a  rapidly  moving 
railroad  train  or  automobile,  I  have  been  whirled  past 
some  huge  advertising  sign  or  public  notice  that  I  really 
wanted  to  read,  but  of  which  I  could  at  best  get  but  a 
few  words,  and  miss  the  rest.  If  I  am  taken  over  the 
same  road  again  and  at  the  same  rate  of  speed,  my 
memory  helping  me,  I  get  a  little  more  of  the  message, 
and  finally;  if  I  make  the  trip  enough  times,  I  get  it  all  — 
a  thorough  understanding  of  the  thought  expressed. 
However,  had  I  passed  that  way  but  once,  at  a  rate  of 
speed  suited  to  my  individual  quickness  or  slowness 
of  apprehension,  I  would  have  grasped  the  entire  mes- 
sage at  the  very  first  reading.  The  simile  would  be 
complete  if  I  had  beside  me  as  a  super-passenger  one 
who,  either  by  begging  or  by  threatening,  was  urging  me 
to  read  the  sign  faster  than  my  mental  capacity  would 
possibly  permit.  Something  tells  me  that  if  such  a 
situation  existed  for  me,  I  should  empty  upon  my  tor- 
mentor all  the  vials  of  my  wrath,  rather  than  quickly  to 
admit  total  failure  and  incapacity. 

How  many  times  in  school  work  is  it  assumed  that 
"pressure  while  repeating  the  grade"  is  the  one  cure  for 
previous  failure  —  and  often  requiring  on  this  repetition 
the  same  rate  of  mental  speed  as  on  the  pupil's  earlier, 
unsuccessful  attempt  to  understand  the  topics  taught. 

If  the  quicker  pupils  in  the  ordinary  class  are  taught 
habits  of  mental  laziness,  the  slower  pupils  are  taught 
habits  of  failure  —  habits  of  failing  to  get  anything 
thoroughly,  habits  of  being  content  with  a  60%  or  70% 


44  THE  JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL  IDEA 

achievement,  habits  of  loss  of  self-respect,  habits  of  say- 
ing "What's  the  use  —  I  can't  do  it  well  —  why  make 
the  effort?" 

Even  the  average,  or  normal,  pupil  cannot  escape  the 
harmful  example  of  observing  the  pupils,  both  above 
and  below  him,  being  trained  in  bad  habits.  These  aver- 
age pupils  see  their  brighter  classmates  gaining  pro- 
motion without  effort  and  their  slower  classmates  gain- 
ing promotion  with  but  little  achievement.  It  is  small 
wonder  that  we  find  in  many  pupils  of  the  middle  group, 
a  desire  to  imitate  both  extremes  by  aiming  to  use  the 
least  effort  necessary  to  get  the  minimum  required 
achievement. 

The  answer  and  remedy  lies  first  in  homogeneous 
grouping  of  our  pupils  as  the  result  of  carefully  given 
tests  of  general  intelligence,  combined  with,  or  influenced 
by,  the  pupils'  previous  school  record.  But  if  there  is 
disagreement  in  the  forecast,  the  classification  should  be 
swayed  more  by  the  psychological  than  by  the  scholastic 
tests,  for  the  latter  shows  only  what  he  has  done,  the  for- 
mer shows  what  he  should  have  done. 

To  the  degree  that  in  a  single  school,  or  in  a  group  of 
neighboring  schools  there  is  a  large  enrollment  of  pupils 
in  any  one  grade,  to  that  degree  is  homogeneous  group- 
ing possible  and  useful. 

We  have  previously  discussed  the  value  of  homoge- 
neous grouping  from  the  standpoint  of  what  it  makes  pos- 
sible in  positive  lines  of  work  —  we  now  see  its  possibili- 
ties in  the  matter  of  prevention  of  waste  —  waste  in  bad 
habits  taught  in  school  —  waste  in  the  taxpayers'  annual 
contributions  to  school  support,  for  the  salaries  of 
teachers,  for  the  material  equipment  and  housing  neces- 
sary for  those  pupils  who  have  been  forced  to  progress  at 
an  unnatural  rate  of  speed  in  their  school  work. 


SPEED   GROUPING   IN   THE   SCHOOL  45 

To  be  sure  not  all  school  communities  have  enough 
pupils  enrolled  in  any  one  grade  or  school  year  to  make 
this  kind  of  homogeneous  speed-grouping  a  simple  mat- 
ter. However,  in  most  towns  or  villages,  there  are  enough 
pupils  promoted  into  the  work  of  the  seventh  school 
year  to  make  it  worth  while  to  assemble  them  under  one 
roof  and  under  one  supervisor  so  that  they  may  be 
classified  into  groups  which  more  nearly  approximate 
a  grouping  of  abilities. 

I  have  never  seen  a  group  so  large  that  its  size  did 
not  greatly  improve  the  possible  homogeneous  grouping, 
but  with  even  three  classes  in  a  grade  at  least  something 
can  be  done.  Five  classes  of  thirty-five  children  each 
can  give  very  satisfactory  results  I  know  from  actual 
experience,  but  far  inferior  to  what  I  should  hope  to 
secure  from  twice  that  number  similarly  graded  into' 
ten  classes. 

Call  our  assembled  seventh  year  pupils  a  junior  high 
school  if  you  will,  but  make  the  seventh  year  classifica- 
tion on  the  basis  of  assembling  the  largest  possible  num- 
ber of  pupils  of  the  seventh  year  under  one  roof.  Rather 
than  to  have  two  junior  high  schools  with  parallel  ver- 
tical courses  in  different  parts  of  a  small  city,  I  would 
make  the  division  a  horizontal  one  and  give  each  school 
all  the  pupils  in  one  grade.  The  hardships  of  a  longer 
walk  to  school,  or  even  of  a  cold  lunch  in  winter,  are  not 
so  great  as  the  hardships  of  habits  of  laziness  or  of 
failure  that  may  be  unavoidable  for  many  in  the  smaller 
school  nearer  home. 

In  securing  homogeneous  grouping  we  have,  after 
all,  but  made  some  preparation  to  attack  our  problem. 
The  main  point  of  issue  is  beyond.  The  rate  oe  learn- 
ing in  each  smaller  homogeneous  group  is  different  from 
that  of  every  other  group  in  the  series.    Each  class  has 


46  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

a  rate  of  speed  —  a  maximum  rate  —  laid  down  for  it, 
by  nature  and  nature's  laws  —  the  laws  of  heredity  or 
hereditary  capacity  are  subject  to  little  change  under 
ordinary  conditions  of  health  and  industry. 

We  are  now  ready  for  our  new  course  of  study,  or 
curriculum,  which  will  fit  the  rate  of  learning  to  the 
natural  ability  of  each  group.  Each  group  has  its 
own  work  cut  out  for  it,  a  different  amount  of  work  for 
each  group,  based  on  a  summary  of  the  genuine  essen- 
tials to  be  covered.  No  such  series  of  courses  (within  a 
grade)  can  be  laid  out  in  advance  —  each  must  be  worked 
out  in  practice  by  the  classroom  teachers,  but  the  rules 
for  working  out  the  courses  may  be  understood  in  ad- 
vance. 

If  before  we  have  called  our  passing  mark  70%.  let 
us  advance  it  not  less  than  twenty  points  if  our  original 
group  be  large  enough  to  permit  a  genuine  regrouping 
of  pupils  by  their  abilities  as  shown  in  psychological 
tests. 

Each  group  will  then  progress  at  its  own  normal  rate 
of  speed,  some  groups  doing  in  one  year  the  work  that  it 
will  take  other  groups  two  years  or  more  to  cover  with 
the  same  degree  of  thoroughness. 

All  groups  are  alike  in  effort,  alike  in  industry,  alike 
in  thoroughness,  but  in  achievement  each  group  is  as 
different  from  the  others  as  the  capacity  of  its  mem- 
bers is  different  from  the  capacity  of  those  in  another 
group. 

While  school  statistics  may  neccessitate  an  annual 
promotion  day,  in  reality  each  day  is  a  promotion  day 
for  the  members  of  such  a  group.  There  is  no  repeating 
a  grade;  pupils  are  never  "left  back."  or  "held  over,"  save 
in  cases  of  absence  or  ill  health.  There  is  always  an  ap- 
proximation of  100%  promotion  within  a  group.    Pupils 


SPEED   GROUPING   IN   THE   SCHOOL  47 

whose  mental  awakening  takes  them  into  a  higher  speed- 
group  are  transferred  at  any  time  without  holding  them 
for  a  promotion  day.  While  other  pupils,  whose  loss  of 
energy  from  ill  health  lessens  their  school  effort,  may  for 
a  time  be  placed  in  a  more  slowly  moving  group. 

However,  as  a  matter  of  school  bookkeeping  it  may  oc- 
casionally become  necessary  to  subject  all  the  pupils  of 
such  a  homogeneously  subdivided  grade  to  a  uniform 
examination,  by  which  the  relative  progress  of  each  of 
the  various  sub-groups  may  be  placed  more  or  less 
definitely  upon  a  scale  which  measures  for  each  group 
its  rate  of  progress  in  the  total  work  of  its  official  grade. 
The  preparation  of  such  a  uniform  test  is  itself  a  matter 
of  serious  study. 

In  the  first  place,  we  need  a  long  test,  not  necessarily 
in  point  of  time,  though  that  is  to  be  considered  —  but 
especially  a  long  test  in  the  range  of  subject-matter 
covered.  All  the  questions  must  be  equal  in  difficulty, 
so  far  as  skill  can  accomplish  this,  and  the  questions 
should  always  be  arranged  in  the  order  which  the  vari- 
ous class  teachers  have  uniformly  pursued  while  teaching 
their  classes.  The  first  questions  are  then  based  upon 
the  first  topics,  studied  alike  by  all  pupils  of  the  grade 
■ — the  questions  following  next  are  based  upon  the 
work  which  follows  next.  In  brief,  the  examination  is 
a  written  review,  step  by  step,  in  sequence  of  the  essen- 
tials of  all  the  work  covered  by  the  most  rapidly  moving 
group  —  with  something  added  from  the  work  ahead 
which  no  group  has  yet  attempted. 

For  the  first  few  tests  in  any  grade  no  passing  marks 
can  be  established —  nor  is  there  any  need  of  any. 

If  we  may  suppose  each  group  to  be  equally  well 
taught  we  will  find  on  studying  the  examination  ratings 
that  the  groups  are  distributed  with  medians  or  aver- 


48  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH  SCHOOL   IDEA 

ages  ranging  from  25%  for  the  lowest,  to  perhaps  75% 
or  even  higher,  for  the  quickest  moving  group.  The  in- 
terpretation of  the  results  of  these  examinations  then  be- 
comes a  study  in  itself. 

If  our  examination  paper  has  been  most  carefully  pre- 
pared, criticised  and  revised  by  all  the  teachers  of  the 
grade,  we  can  count  our  results  as  more  or  less  accurate 
measures  of  the  speed  of  learning  of  each  group  and,  to  a 
decidedly  lesser  extent,  of  each  pupil  within  the  group. 
If  the  slowest  group  averages  25%,  and  the  quickest 
group  averages  75%,  we  can  say  that  roughly  speaking, 
the  higher  group  at  75%  is  able  to  learn  three  times 
as  fast  as  the  lower  group  at  25%  and  plan  our  advance 
work  accordingly.  To  the  pupils  it  must  be  fully  and  re- 
peatedly explained  that  one's  rate  of  learning,  other  things 
being  equal,  is  not  a  measure  of  ultimate  success,  but 
rather  a  matter  of  hereditary  endowment  —  that  the  use 
which  one  makes  of  the  knowledge  he  acquires  in  school, 
whether  he  gains  that  knowledge  quickly  or  slowly,  is 
the  real  measure  of  a  pupil's  future  promise. 

The  pupils  in  the  slowest  moving  groups  who  maintain 
themselves  at,  or  above,  the  median,  or  middle  mark, 
of  their  group,  must  be  recognized  as  being  just  as  worthy 
of  commendation  and  of  school  awards  as  are  similarly 
placed  pupils  in  the  most  rapidly  progressing  unit. 

For  such  a  uniform  test  there  is,  then,  no  one 
"passing  mark,"  but  a  series  of  such  marks  —  a  differ- 
ent one  for  each  case.  Whereas,  in  such  a  test,  50% 
might  indicate  failure  if  unsurpassed  by  the  pupils  in  one 
group,  this  same  50%  might  be  a  rating  indicating  the 
highest  success  if  reached  in  the  same  test  by  pupils  from 
a  more  slowly  moving  group. 

However,  these  "uniform  grade  tests"  may  best  come 
infrequently  —  not  more  than  twice  a  semester  at  most 


SPEED   GROUPING   IN   THE   SCHOOL  49 

—  after  the  organization  of  the  grade  is  once  completed. 
Late  November,  late  March,  or  early  April  and  the  close 
of  the  school  year  have  been  found  to  be  good  dates  for 
testing  relative  progress  in  achievement.  Doubtless 
there  are  other  better  dates  to  be  found  by  experiment. 

The  point  is  that  too  frequent  taking  stock  of  relative 
progress  is  often  not  only  a  waste  of  time,  but  may  serve 
to  discourage  some  pupils  by  the  inevitable  contrasts 
between  the  extremes  of  ratings  secured.  Within  each 
group,  the  weekly  or  monthly  review  tests  are  similar  to 
each  other  in  difficulty,  but  far  different  in  the  sub- 
ject-matter they  cover.  If  80%  or  90%  be  set  up  as  a 
provisional  passing  mark,  for  each  individual  group,  then 
each  pupil  in  the  group  of  like-minded  pupils  must 
reach  that  mark  at  least,  to  continue  with  his  present 
classmates.  Any  pupil's  individual  progress  and  pro- 
motion then,  within  his  group  depends  upon  that  pupil's 
tested  ability  to  keep  up  with  his  own  classmates  in  their 
daily,  weekly  and  monthly  progress  —  a  progress  which 
it  is  arranged  in  advance  shall  be  within  his  possibilities, 
however  fast  or  slow  that  progress  be. 

While  many  supervisors  will  at  once  agree  to  the 
organization  of  rapidly  moving  classes  within  a  grade, 
there  will  always  be  some  who  believe  that  even  the  slow- 
est-learning group  should  attempt  to  cover  all  the  work 
laid  down  in  the  Official  syllabus  as  a  year's  work. 
Nothing  is  more  unfair  or  destructive  of  good  school 
influence  than  to  make  allowances  for  the  quicker  and 
not  for  the  slower-learning  pupils,  yet  how  many 
school  systems  are  open  to  this  indictment.  Fortunately, 
they  carry  their  own  punishment  if  not  their  own  cure. 
Not  only  is  the  total  progress  within  a  grade  made  lower 
by  this  discrimination,  with  a  resultant  lower  proportion 
of  total   promotions,  but  such  a  school  system  is  plagued 


50  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

with  ever  present  problems  of  discipline  which  the  com- 
pletely grouped  system  avoids.  Pick  out  a  school  where 
there  is  a  high  percentage  of  unruly  pupils,  cases  of  in- 
subordination, disrespect  and  incipient  revolution,  and 
you  will  find  a  school  where  there  are  many  pupils  being 
forced  to  attempt  the  impossible,  and  where  the  pupil 
who  cannot  do  the  work  at  the  rate  demanded  is  attempt- 
ing to  bolster  up  his  self-respect  (perhaps  unconsciously) 
by  contending  that  he  will  not  do  the  work  assigned  — 
work  which  the  careful  student  of  education  discovers 
that  the  pupil  could  never  hope  to  do,  even  if  he  were  to 
work  with  all  the  mental  energy  at  his  command. 

Fortunately,  more  and  more  superintendents  are  be- 
coming convinced  that  if  rapid  advancement  classes  are 
desirable,  classes  arranged  for  slow  advancement  are 
equally  valuable  and  desirable. 

The  junior  high  school,  while  by  no  means  the  only 
type  of  school  where  this  grading  by  speed  of  learning 
should  be  employed,  still  deserves  particular  attention 
as  being  the  type  of  school  where  such  a  plan  may  most 
easily  be  inaugurated.  We  already  have  been  using 
the  psychological  tests  to  secure  homogeneous  group- 
ing for  better  teaching  units  —  pupils  whose  powers  of 
comprehension  are  more  or  less  alike  being  placed  in 
the  same  class  for  their  own  and  their  teachers'  benefit. 

The  next  step  then  is  not  a  difficult  one  in  such  a 
school  —  to  arrange  that  our  teachers  no  longer  attempt 
to  cover  the  same  amount  of  yearly  work  with  each 
homogeneous  group,  but  rather  that  they  attempt  to 
fit  their  speed  of  teaching  to  each  group's  separate  speed 
j)f  learning  to  the  end  that  each  pupil  shall  work  at  a 
reasonable  maximum  of  his  mental  possibilities,  neither 
slower,  learning  habits  of  laziness,  nor  faster,  learning 
habits  of  failure,  but  at  the  nearest  approximation  of 


SPEED   GROUPING   IN   THE   SCHOOL  51 

that  natural  speed  which  his  unchangeable  mental  en- 
dowment has  predetermined. 

Once  adopted  as  a  permanent  feature  of  our  forward 
looking  junior  high  school,  we  may  expect  to  see  "speed- 
grouping"  a  feature  ultimately  of  all  subsequent  high 
school  organization. 

At  this  point  some  one  will  surely  raise  the  question 
as  to  whether  or  not  special  programs  are  really  de- 
sirable in  junior  high  school  work.  Despite  all  that  may 
be  said  for  advancing  the  pupil  in  those  subjects  in 
which  he  is  proficient  and  despite  his  failure  in  other 
subjects,  nevertheless  the  junior  high  school  may  prove 
altogether  too  early  a  point  for  specialization. 

If  in  the  higher  grades  of  the  high  school  and  in 
the  college  we  permit  the  pupil  to  select  the  subjects 
in  which  he  is  particularly  interested  and  to  avoid 
taking  those  subjects  in  which  he  has  no  interest  or 
little  aptitude,  it  is  because  we  recognize  that  the  time 
has  come  to  permit  the  pupil  to  take  active  steps  toward 
preparing  for  some  special  line  of  service. 

In  the  junior  high  school,  however,  we  find  little  jus- 
tification for  any  such  specialization.  To  be  sure,  we 
have  permitted  a  selection  of  one  of  three  major  lines 
of  work,  the  academic,  or  general,  the  commercial  and 
the  technical  or  industrial.  However,  when  a  choice 
has  been  made  of  one  line  of  work  wTe  are  jus- 
tified in  laying  down  minimum  essentials  for  promotion 
in  this  line.  In  the  academic  work,  for  example,  a  boy 
who  is  unusally  good  in  mathematics  and  unusually  poor 
in  English  should  be  directed  to  put  more  time  on  Eng- 
lish and  less  on  algebra  until  he  has  secured  at  least 
a  passing  grade  in  the  subject  in  which  he  is  deficient. 
All  the  way  through  our  junior  high  school  the  em- 
phasis may  well  be  laid  upon  keeping  what  some  may  call 


52  THE  JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL  IDEA 

a  level  foundation.  The  boy  who  shows  unusual  profi- 
ciency in  social  science  with  a  marked  deficiency  in 
mathematics  should  be  taught  to  realize  that  his  first 
duty  is  to  make  up  his  deficiency  and  after  that  to 
shine  in  the  subject  of  his  choice  if  he  will.  Boys, 
as  rational  beings,  will  appreciate  the  value  of  lay- 
ing a  level  foundation  for  future  work  and  they 
can  be  shown  that  it  is  absurd  at  their  age  to  strive 
for  distinction  in  one  line  of  work  while  failing  in 
another.  If  this  is  once  brought  home  to  the  pupils 
and  (to  make  an  apparently  absurd  statement)  they  are 
made  to  feel  that  the  measure  of  their  success  is  not  the 
subject  in  which  they  excel,  but  rather,  the  subjects  in 
which  they  do  not  jail,  we  will  have  little  occasion  to 
discuss  special  programs  or  promotion  by  subjects. 

Experience  of  teachers  and  supervisors  who  have  made 
a  study  of  these  special  programs  during  the  past  several 
years  seems  to  indicate  that  the  boy  who  seeks  promo- 
tion by  subjects,  fails  in  certain  subjects  not  because  he 
cannot  pass  in  them,  but  because  he  does  not  really 
care  to  pass,  being  assured  of  promotion  in  the  subjects 
in  which  he  is  most  interested. 

Our  junior  high  school  subjects  are  not  yet  so  different 
in  difficulty  and  so  highly  specialized  in  appeal  that  the 
boy  who  can  pass  in  one  of  the  subjects  cannot  pass  in 
the  other  subjects  of  the  same  grade  if  he  really  wants  to 
do  so.  The  time  to  give  the  individual  attention  to  the 
pupil's  needs  therefore  is  not  after  he  has  failed  in  cer- 
tain subjects,  but  before  he  is  permitted  to  fail. 

Seen  from  this  angle,  the  special  program  is  only 
an  ambulance  at  the  bottom  of  the  cliff  attempting  to 
make  amends  for  the  injury  which  earlier  neglect  made 
possible.  The  time  for  individual  attention  is  the  first 
sign  of  failure  in  one  subject  of  the  pupil's  daily  pro- 


SPEED   GROUPING   IN   THE   SCHOOL  53 

gram.  If  we  can  convince  the  pupil  that  he  must  spend 
sufficient  time  on  each  subject  to  make  his  work  in  that 
subject  satisfactory,  we  shall  be  building  a  fence  around 
the  top  of  the  cliff  and  shall  not  need  the  ambulance  at 
the  bottom. 

It  is  an  open  question  as  to  whether  or  not  the  pro- 
motion of  the  teacher  with  the  class  strengthens  the 
administration  of  the  elementary  school.  Certainly  in 
the  lower  grades  there  is  room  for  argument  on  either 
side.  However,  in  the  junior  high  school,  where  homo- 
geneous speed  grouping  is  employed,  every  argument 
seems  to  indicate  that  the  success  of  the  school 
depends  largely  upon  having  the  same  teacher  keep  the 
same  pupils  from  their  time  of  entrance  to  their  gradua- 
tion. 

We  are  trying  to  combine  class  instruction  with 
individual  consideration  of  pupils'  aptitudes.  We  are  try- 
ing to  find  out  what  the  pupil  is  best  fitted  to  do  for  his 
life  work.  We  are  trying  to  strengthen  the  child  in  those 
points  of  character  or  of  school  work  where  he  is  weak 
and,  possibly,  to  keep  him  from  a  one-sided  development 
in  those  lines  where  he  is  strong.  Even  to  attempt  this 
work  it  is  necessary  that  the  teacher  become  more  inti- 
mately acquainted  with  the  pupils  of  his  class  than  under 
other  types  of  school  administration.  The  three  years 
of  junior  high  school  is  little  enough  time  for  the  teacher 
to  make  this  intimate  personal  acquaintance  with  the 
likes,  dislikes,  capacities  and  incapacities  of  the  pupils 
whom  he  teaches. 

Any  plan  which  proposes  to  change  the  pupils  from  one 
teacher  to  another  in  each  successive  subject  is  fore- 
doomed to  failure  in  the  realization  of  the  junior  high 
school  ideal.  Even  when  the  teacher  keeps  the  same  class 
and  the  same  pupils  from  year  to  year,  success  is  by 


54  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

no  means  assured,  but  a  decidedly  lower  percentage 
of  failure  is  recorded  in  those  classes  where  the  teacher 
is  given  an  opportunity  to  study  his  pupils  during  their 
entire  junior  high  school  course. 

Under  the  ideal  plan,  each  successive  entering  group, 
after  having  been  mentally  tested  and  assigned  to  speed 
groups,  will  be  given  a  certain  number  of  official  teachers 
—  for  example,  one  in  English,  one  in  mathematics,  one 
in  natural  science,  one  in  social  science,  one  in  foreign 
language,  and  these  five  teachers  at  least  will  remain  as 
the  official  teachers  of  this  group  during  its  entire  stay 
in  the  junior  high  school.  Some  one  has  called  this  the 
"wave  idea,"  likening  the  successive  entering  groups 
to  a  succession  of  incoming  waves,  the  pupils  and  teach- 
ers being  promoted  together  until  the  pupils  are  gradu- 
ated, whereupon  the  teachers  return  to  the  group  which 
is  last  admitted. 

In  order  to  have  the  ideal  plan  work  out  in  practice, 
it  will  be  seen  that  we  shall  need  an  entering  group  of 
not  less  than  125  pupils,  or  if  our  classes  must  be  larger, 
not  less  than  200,  the  first  number  giving  five  classes 
of  25  pupils  each  and  the  latter  plan  five  classes  of  40 
pupils  each.  The  point  is,  we  need  at  least  five  entering 
classes  to  make  our  plan  truly  effective.  For  example, 
under  the  idealplan  a  teacher  of  mathematics  will  meet 
an  incoming  group  of  five  or  six  classes,  all  in  the  same 
grade,  but  differenUin  ability,  and  keep  these  five  or 
six  classes  under  his  personal  instruction  until,  by  suc- 
cessive promotions,  they  are  graduated  from  the  junior 
high  school. 

The  importance  of  this  arrangement  cannot  be  over- 
estimated. In  the  first  place,  the  teacher  having  all  the 
classes  in  the  grade  is  best  able  to  regulate  their  com- 
parative speeds.    He  is  in  a  position  to  know  how  much 


SPEED   GROUPING  IN   THE   SCHOOL  55 

faster  "division  one"  is  working  than  "division  two" 
and  so  on  until  the  slowest  moving  division  is  reached. 
He  is  in  a  position  to  advise  the  transfer  up  or  down  of 
pupils  who  are  showing  marked  differences  from  the 
average  of  their  particular  class.  By  covering  all  the 
work  in  mathematics  from  junior  high  school  entrance 
to  graduation,  he  is  in  the  best  position  to  make  that 
growth  a  harmonious  and  effective  development  with  no 
sharp  breaks  at  promotion  times.  Morever,  the  pupils 
are  not  forced  to  re-adjust  themselves  to  new  person- 
alities and  new  methods  of  instruction,  but  can  devote 
themselves  to  the  subject-matter  in  uninterrupted  pro- 
gression. 

In  neighborhoods  where  the  entering  classes  are  so 
small  that  there  is  little  opportunity  of  making  homo- 
geneous groups  large  enough  to  warrant  their  assignment 
to  an  individual  teacher  there  will  be  extreme  difficulty 
in  utilizing  this  new  form  of  grading. 

Only  the  most  expert  teacher  will  be  able  to  divide 
her  one  class  of  thirty  or  forty  pupils  into  speed  groups 
and  then  keep  each  group  working  at  its  maximum  pos- 
sibilities. 

Wherever  it  is  possible  the  better  plan  by  far  is  to 
combine  all  the  seventh  grade  pupils  of  the  neighbor- 
hood into  one  large  group  which  may  be  tested  and  then 
subdivided  according  to  abilities.  When  the  housing 
conditions  permit,  it  is,  of  course,  desirable  to  have  one 
central  junior  high  school,  but  where  there  are  only 
limited  accommodations  in  any  one  building,  one  or  two 
alternatives  might  be  employed. 

Our  plan  would  be  to  have  the  pupils  collected  and 
tested  at  one  central  school  and  then  to  have  the  several 
speed  groups,  so  discovered,  assigned  to  various  rooms  in 
the  buildings  that  could  accommodate  them.    This  would 


56  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

give  in  effect  one  junior  high  school  with  its  classes 
seated  in  various  neighboring  schools. 

Another  plan  would  be  to  have  a  succession  of  schools 
with  five  rooms,  more  or  less,  that  could  be  utilized, 
admit  all  the  seventh  grade  pupils  that  applied  for 
junior  high  school  admission  at  any  one  time.  Thus 
the  pupils  applying  for  admission  in  September  could  be 
housed  in  School  A,  those  admitted  in  February  could  be 
assigned  to  School  B,  the  following  September  School 
C  could  receive  the  entrants  and  so  on  until  School  A 
again  had  room  enough  to  admit  an  entering  group. 

This  plan  gives  a  series  of  junior  high  schools,  scattered 
through  the  neighborhood,  each  a  separate  entity  keep- 
ing the  same  identical  pupils  from  entrance  to  gradua- 
tion. In  some  ways  this  "wave"  school  possesses  ad- 
vantages over  all  other  types,  even  over  the  one  large 
central  junior  high  school. 

Finally,  while  nearly  all  the  conspicuous  benefits  of 
speed  grouping  depend  to  a  very  large  extent  upon  hav- 
ing an  entering  group  so  large  that  pupils  may  be 
arranged  in  definite  official  classes  of  nearly  identical 
speed  ability,  yet  the  unusually  able  teacher  of  a  small 
entering  class  should  not  be  deterred  from  attempting 
some  form  of  speed  grouping.  Let  us  admit  that  this 
will  be  a  difficult  proposition  and  one  in  which  the  poorly 
equipped  teacher  can  hope  for  but  small  success.  How- 
ever, with  a  skilled  instructor,  the  small  class  may  still 
be  divided  into  speed  groups  where  the  teacher  may  lay 
out  work  for  the  more  able  by  which  they  can  cover  the 
grade  work  in  advance  of  their  less  speedy  fellow  pupils. 
Even  if  four  or  five  gain  one  year  more  of  school  in- 
struction, no  small  good  will  have  been  accomplished, 
while,  on  the  other  hand,  those  apparent  laggards  will  be 
kept  at  work  at  a  speed  which  suits  their  capacities  and 


SPEED    GROUPING   IN   THE   SCHOOL  57 

so  escape  the  stigma   of  failure   and  of  repeating  the 
school  grade,  possibly  only  to  fail  again  the  next  term. 

1.  What  three  groups  can  I  distinguish  in  my  class  as  regards 

my   pupils'   rate  of  learning? 

2.  In  what  bad  mental  habits  is  my  quicker  learning  group 

being  trained? 

3.  What  injustice  may  be  done  my  slower  learning  group  by 

forcing  them  to  follow  an  unnatural  rate  of  learning? 
4!  What    remedy    can    I    suggest    for    the   two    undesirable 
situations  just  considered? 

5.  Why  do  we  need  a  long,  carefully   graded   test  to   dis- 

tinguish  our   pupils'   various   rates   of   learning? 

6.  How  should  I  plan  such  a  test  in  my  specialty? 

7.  What  effect  does  speed  grouping  have  upon  school  disci- 

pline ? 

8.  What   bearing   has   speed   grouping   upon   promotion   by 

subjects? 

9.  What  are  the  peculiar  advantages  in  a  junior  high  school 

of  promoting  the  teacher  with  the   class? 
10.  How  may  some  of  the  difficulties  of  speed  grouping  in  a 
small  school  system  be  overcome? 


CHAPTER  IV 
CHOOSING   THE   COURSE    OF   STUDY 

At  the  very  outset  some  one  may  claim  that  whatever 
may  be  our  theoretical  choice,  in  reality  we  have  little 
or  no  actual  freedom  in  selecting  our  objects  of  study. 
Tradition  and  authority  have  laid  down  the  rules  as  to 
what  shall  be  studied  in  each  succeeding  school  year. 

To  this  contention  there  is  but  one  answer :  if  tradition 
and  authority  combine  to  forbid  any  change,  by  that 
very  restriction  a  junior  high  school  is  made  impossible. 
The  very  initiation  of  a  junior  high  school  implies  free- 
dom to  make  such  changes  in  the  course  of  study  as  may 
be  necessary  in  order  to  carry  out  the  junior  high  school 
idea. 

Even  with  such  reasonable  freedom  as  may  be  granted 
by  a  liberal  and  progressive  superintendent  of  schools 
and  board  of  education,  we  still  shall  experience  grave 
difficulties  in  selecting  work  that  will  meet  our  require- 
ments because  of  the  apparently  unavoidable  conflict 
between  the  demands  of  current  school  work  and  those 
of  the  world  outside  the  school. 

In  the  school  world  it  is  more  important  that  a  pupil 
know  the  principles  of  combustion  and  expansion  of 
gases  than  that  he  be  able  to  drive  an  automobile, 
but  in  the  world  of  grown  men  the  man  who  can  run  the 
car  is  the  one  on  whom  we  prefer  to  rely.  To  be 
sure  the  best  operator  is  the  one  who  knows  the  theoreti- 
cal as  well  as  the  practical  operation  of  his  machine,  but 
the  schools  are  too  often  charged  with  indifference  to  the 
practice  if  the  theory  be  to  some  degree  appreciated. 

58 


CHOOSING   THE   COURSE   OF   STUDY  59 

Indeed,  if  a  man  purchase  an  automobile,  as  many 
hundreds  of  thousands  have  recently  done,  he  often  finds 
it  harder  to  gain  a  knowledege  of  the  practice  than  of 
the  theory  of  how  his  car  runs.  This  experience, 
with  countless  others  taken  at  random  from  every  human 
occupation,  gives  strength  to  the  common  belief  that  the 
knowledge  given  in  school  is  of  an  inferior  type  to  that 
acquired  "on  the  job." 

To  be  sure  it  must  be  admitted  that  a  select  few,  the 
saiper-engineers,  designers  and  inventors,  must  know 
the  theory  to  the  highest  possible  degree,  but  for  the  man 
in  the  street  such  knowledge  is  neither  necessary,  nor 
even  useful,  if  he  be  engaged  in  some  other  occupation 
than  the  one  in  question. 

We  in  the  schools  face  a  truly  serious  charge,  too  wide- 
spread to  be  ignored.  It  is  a  commonplace  that  most 
grown  men  and  women  would  find  genuine  difficulty  in  se- 
curing even  a  passing  mark  on  many  of  the  tests  now 
given  to  children  in  their  seventh  school  year.  Unless 
one  be  by  the  nature  of  his  occupation  forced  to  become 
reacquainted  with  the  more  detailed  parts  of  his  earlier 
school  work,  no  small  fraction  of  that  earlier  work  seems 
to  pass  entirely  out  of  mind  with  no  appreciable  loss. 
We  are  obliged  to  remember  how  to  read,  to  write,  to 
spell,  to  solve  simple  arithmetical  problems,  to  recall  in 
a  general  way  the  political  divisions  of  our  globe  and  es- 
pecially of  our  own  country.  Our  appreciation  and  use- 
fulness as  citizens  is  increased  as  we  know  more  of  the 
history  of  our  country  and  of  the  world's  civilization. 
Yet  most  of  the  knowledge  which  mature  men  and  women 
(who  are  not  school  teachers)  find  available  for  their 
daily  work  or  pleasure  appears  to  them  to  have  been  se- 
cured outside  of  school. 

As  teachers  whose  very   livelihood  depends  upon   a 


60  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

knowledge  of  the  things  we  teach,  can  it  be  that  we  have 
assumed  an  importance  for  much  of  our  work  that  is  far 
from  its  true  importance  in  the  world  of  affairs? 

To  no  small  extent  our  pupils,  particularly  our  adoles- 
cent pupils  come  to  school  imbued  by  their  parents 
or  their  associates  with  more  or  less  distrust  of  the  value 
of  what  they  are  studying.  All  admit  that  "education" 
is  a  thing  highly  to  be  prized.  All  may  be  convinced  that 
the  seemingly  impractical  information  gained  at  school 
is  still  practical  when  it  comes  promotion  time  —  and 
yet  there  is  an  undercurrent  of  suspicion  that  the  whole 
system  is  artificial;  artificial  barriers  being  set  up  to 
make  useless  knowledge  a  temporary  necessity. 

Where  there  is  so  much  smoke  there  may  be  some  fire 
and  it  ill  behooves  us  to  dismiss  from  our  minds  a 
serious  consideration  of  this  conflict  of  ideas.  On  the 
contrary,  particularly  in  the  junior  high  school,  we  must 
strive  so  to  select  and  impart  the  information  in  our 
hands  that  our  pupils  may  be  led  to  see  its  genuine 
worth  if  such  exists.  At  the  same  time  we  will  be  ex- 
tremely careful  to  exclude  from  our  work  such  exercises, 
topics,  or  discussions  as  we  would  find  difficult  to  defend 
before  an  impartial  non-school  jury  of  peers.  It  may 
seem  unfortunate  that  we  have  pupils  whose  further 
education  will  lie  in  other  hands.  If  we  were  only  free  to 
plan  all  our  pupils'  work  then  we  could  plan  for  life  and 
not  for  the  next  school  year,  some  enthusiasts  may  say. 

Even  so,  our  part  is  to  make  our  pupils'  next  step 
secure.  We  must  recognize  our  limits  and  make  the 
most  of  the  opportunity  we  have.  Perhaps  the  situation 
will  not  seem  as  bad  as  it  at  first  appears  and  we  may 
yet  be  able  to  use  (as  we  must  agree)  desirable  teaching 
matter  that  will  be  worth  remembering  after  school 
work  is  a  thing  of  the  past. 


CHOOSING   THE   COURSE   OF   STUDY  61 

For  a  beginning  we  need  not  concern  ourselves  greatly 
with  a  review  of  such  elementary  school  work  as  is  of 
little  value  for  the  new  work  just  ahead.  Here  at  least 
is  a  distinct  gain.  As  for  the  elementary  school  work 
which  we  may  select  for  completion,  to  this  we  may  ap- 
ply our  rules  most  rigorously.  Is  this  work  merely  inter- 
esting to  the  teacher  and  entertaining  to  the  pupil,  bits  of 
information  which  he  will  be  called  upon  to  review  and 
re-study  later  on  if  he  is  ever  to  use  it  for  his  work  or  rec- 
reation? Or  on  the  other  hand  will  this  proposed 
work  prove  a  real  necessity  in  helping  the  pupil  to  find 
himself  now  and  an  essential  to  the  not  far  distant  work 
he  will  soon  take  up? 

Furthermore,  we  may  find  it  possible  with  the  free 
time  secured  by  the  elimination  of  elementary  school 
reviews  and  of  some  elementary  school  topics  to  work 
out  an  approach  to  the  required  senior  high  school  work 
that  will  allow  us  much  of  the  added  freedom  that  we 
seek. 

In  default  of  mental  tests  that  will  predetermine  each 
pupil's  fitness  for  a  certain  line  of  work,  we  shall  use  so 
far  as  we  must  the  method  of  trial  and  error.  We  shall 
give  our  pupil  not  simply  information  that  will  be  useful, 
if  for  example  he  enters  technical  work,  but  information 
that  he  recognizes,  at  the  time,  as  technical  training, 
given  him  for  the  purpose  of  helping  him  to  discover 
his  own  talent  for  more  instruction  in  that  same  field. 
Similarly  our  emphasis  will  again  be  given  to  the  phase 
of  the  work  that  is  particularly  of  commercial  value  — 
with  the  same  purpose  in  view.  Again  there  will  be 
emphasis  upon  the  scientific  interests.  In  each  case,  as 
far  as  his  mentality  permits,  the  pupil  is  made  fully  and 
genuinely  conscious  of  the  fact  that  he  is  for  the 
time  concerned  with  information  or  training  that  is  a 


62  THE    JUNIOR    HIGH    SCHOOL    IDEA 

sample  of  the  work  necessary  for  success  in  some  one 
of  the  greater  divisions  or  human  occupations,  one  of 
which  he  must  ultimately  select.  It  is  not  sufficient  that 
we  give  such  experiences  in  special  training,  no  matter 
how  thorough  we  may  be  about  it,  unless  at  the  same  time 
we  make  the  recipient  of  the  training  a  co-experimenter 
with  us.  If,  however,  we  do  this  we  will  find  unnumbered 
opportunities  for  this  experience  in  the  regular  first  year 
high  school  work.  Indeed  we  may  begin  to  believe  that 
the  pupil's  experimental  experience  depends  less  upon  our 
unrestrained  selection  of  the  subjects  of  study  to  be  fol- 
lowed, than  it  docs  upon  the  keenness  of  the  subject- 
teacher  in  disclosing  to  his  class  the  varied  nature  of  the 
experiences  provided  by  his  subject  as  they  occur  in  his 
daily  work.  Each  teacher  must  be  able  to  analyze  his 
own  subject  into  those  elements  that  will  be  of  value  in 
providing  training  in  special  fields  other  than  his  own. 

Too  often,  we  must  admit,  the  teacher  of  each  high 
school  subject  proceeds  almost  entirely  on  the  assump- 
tion (of  which  he  himself  may  not  be  conscious)  that 
his  pupils  are  to  become  teachers  of  his  specialty,  when 
they  begin  their  life  work.  Too  often  the  teacher  of 
English,  mathematics,  science,  or  what  you  choose,  em- 
phasizes those  things  in  his  instruction  that  interest  him 
:i>  a  teacher  —  that  would  be  necessary  for  the  training 
of  one  who  planned  to  become  a  teacher  himself.  Too 
often  the  topics  that  have  selective  value  for  the  pos- 
sible technician,  tradesman,  or  physician,  entirely  escape 
his  notice.  However,  our  point  here  is  that  the  mere 
selection  of  certain  subjects  for  study  does  not  of  neces- 
sity secure  for  us  all  that  we  seek.  This  phase  of  our 
problem  we  will  study  at  more  length  under  our  dis- 
cussion of  the  subjects  we  may  teach.  For  the  present 
we  can  add  this  one  requirement.    The  subjects  of  study 


CHOOSING   THE    COURSE   OF   STUDY  63 

selected  for  our  junior  high  school  work  must  be  capa- 
ble of  furnishing  such  a  variety  of  vocational  experiences 
as  will  assist  the  pupil  in  his  selection  of  the  line  of  work 
and  study  upon  which  he  will  sooner  or  later  specialize. 
At  the  same  time  we  must  not  forget  our  earlier  require- 
ment, that  what  we  teach  must  be  immediately  useful 
either  for  its  own  sake  or  as  a  necessary  step  toward  some 
other  useful  knowledge  that  is  clearly  within  sight. 

The  success  or  failure  of  our  junior  high  school  idea  is 
not  dependent  by  any  means,  we  now  realize,  upon  the 
names  our  courses  bear,  nor  wholly  upon  their  content, 
but  more  and  more  upon  the  methods  we  employ  in  giv- 
ing the  instruction  in  the  subjects  we  select. 

It  will  take  but  little  study  to  prove  where  our  chief 
demands  lie.  It  will  profit  us  little  if  we  give  our  four- 
teen year  old  pupil  knowledge  that  he  will  find  useful 
at  twenty-four  if  at  the  same  time  we  fail  to  give  him 
that  information  that  will  be  necessary  for  his  school 
success  at  sixteen.  The  nearer  demands  of  our  own  work 
and  of  the  work  of  the  senior  high  school  must  be  met 
first.  On  this  point  there  can  be  no  debate.  Even  where 
it  may  lead  us  to  teach  subjects  which  we  firmly  believe 
to  be  of  no  ultimate  value,  we  must  make  our  pupil's  next 
step  secure.  Only  as  we  are  able  to  convert  the  higher 
schools  to  our  point  of  view  and  so  to  a  change  in  their 
requirements  can  we  Jbe  truly  free  to  select  for  study  such 
subjects  as  will  truly  meet  all  the  requirements  of  our 
avowed  aims.  That  such  changes  are  yearly  being  made 
in  the  requirements  of  the  senior  high  schools  and  of  the 
colleges  should  give  us  faith  and  hope  that  ultimately 
our  ideals  will  everywhere  prevail.  Even  with  the  re- 
strictive requirements  of  the  higher  schools  as  they  -(and, 
modified  only  in  such  minor  details  as  we  may  locally 
secure,  there  is  still  a  surprisingly  great  freedom  of  selec- 


64  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

tiun  permitted  us  if  we  remember  that  we  are  able  to  be- 
gin this  advanced  work  two  years  earlier  than  under  the 
"eight  and  four"  plan  we  are  giving  up.  Because  the 
demands  of  the  next  higher  school  are  the  most  com- 
pelling we  shall  choose  the  lines  of  work  they  will  later 
require,  but  in  our  methods  and  in  our  approach  we  shall 
be  more  concerned  with  our  newer  demands  which  we 
have  just  considered. 

If  our  junior  high  schools  are  to  give,  as  we  plan  them 
to  give,  a  general  introduction  to  later  work  in  the  shop, 
the  office,  or  the  senior  school,  our  courses  themselves 
must  be  general  and  introductory. 

As  a  basis  for  further  discussion  may  we  now  consider 
the  following  lines  of  study  in  which  the  senior  high 
school  will  expect  to  find  our  pupils  reasonably  well 
started  before  they  leave  our  junior  school. 

The  senior  high  school,  compelled  usually  in  turn  by 
the  colleges,  requires  of  us  one  year  of  training  and  in- 
formation in  certain  definite  lines:  — 

1.  English  (literature,  essay  writing,  grammar) 

2.  Mathematics  (arithmetic  and  algebra  or  geometry) 

3.  A  foreign  language   (French,  or  German,  or  Spanish,  or 

Latin) 

4.  Science  (natural  science) 

5.  History  and  civics  (social  science) 

and  possibly  also  minor  demands  in 

G.    Drawing,  Music   (appreciation,  or  technique,  or  both) 
7.    Shop  work  or  domestic  science  (manual  training) 
S.    Physical  training  and  hygiene. 

Even  if  we  choose  we  have  no  escape  from  the  require- 
ments in  at  least  the  five  major  lines.  Our  freedom  lies 
in  accepting  the  divisions  of  the  higher  school  work  as  we 
find  them,  but  in  working  out  oar  own  approach  to  the 
requirements  that  lie  ahead. 


CHOOSING   THE   COURSE   OF   STUDY  65 

In  the  first  place  if  we  are  to  help  our  pupils  to  find 
themselves  we  cannot  do  so  by  offering  only  that  instruc- 
tion that  is  required  by  some  one  line  of  higher  educa- 
tion, be  that  technical,  scientific,  academic  or  commercial. 
We  must  plan  to  provide  experiences  in  all  fields  for  our 
entering  pupils.  From  the  very  start  and  without  excep- 
tion during  our  first  junior  high  school  year  we  must  pro- 
vide work  in  all  required  lines  that  will,  so  far  as  human 
ingenuity  can  fashion  it,  be  valuable  in  helping  the  pupil 
not  only  to  choose  his  life  work  wisely,  but  which  will  ac- 
tually help  him  to  begin  his  training  for  it  by  giving  him 
information  useful  long  after,  as  well  as  now. 

At  Speyer  School  several  experimental  combinations 
have  been  tried.  In  some  subjects  the  completion  of  such 
elementary  school  work  as  was  retained  was  planned  for 
the  end  of  the  first  junior  high  school  year.  In  other  sub- 
jects this  work  was  supposed  to  be  completed  at  the  end 
of  one  and  a  half  school  years. 

As  a  result  of  many  experiments  the  Speyer  School 
teachers  and  supervisors  came  to  agree  that  some  por- 
tion of  the  work  of  the  ninth  school  year  (first  high 
school  year)  should  be  begun  in  every  subject  on  the 
very  day  the  pupil  enters.  Similarly  it  was  agreed, 
as  the  result  of  experiment,  that  some  part  of  the  so- 
called  elementary  school  work  should  continue  through- 
out the  entire  three  years  of  the  junior  high  school  course. 

Varying  to  a  certain  extent  with  each  general  intro- 
ductory subject,  the  plan  finally  adopted  may  be  best 
shown  by  the  diagram  below: 

As  a  matter  of  fact  the  divisions  between  the  three 
kinds  of  work  were  never  sharply  drawn,  but  were  so 
fused  that  the  pupil  was  never  aware  that  he  was  study- 
ing work  that  experts  midit  separate  into  elementary, 
high,  or  original  school  work. 


66 


THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 


Our  diagram  will  serve,  however,  if  we  remember  that 
it  applies  to  the  approximate  quantities  of  the  three  ele- 
ments fused  in  each  year's  work  rather  than  to  their 
method  of  presentation. 


7th  Year 


8th  Year 


9th  Year 


A  more  accurate  diagram  though  one  less  easily  read 
would  show  the  three  school  elements  as  three  types  of 
shading  in  which  no  definite  lines  of  separation  appear. 


7th  Year 


8th  Year 


9th  Year 


In  general  it  was  found  that  there  were  many  topics 
formerly  reserved  for  the  ninth  school  year  that  were 
easier  of  comprehension  than  some  of  the  work  pre- 
viously required  for  the  seventh  school  year.  Other 
things  being  equal,  the  best  results  were  secured  when 
all  the  work  was  graded  on  the  basis  of  its  ease  of  com- 
prehension by  the  pupil  rather  than  upon  any  previous 
logical  (or  illogical)  grouping.  For  a  single  example,  in 
General  Introductory  Mathematics  the  simple  use  of  al- 


CHOOSING   THE   COURSE  OF  STUDY  67 

gebraic  x,  y  and  z  and  the  addition  of  simple  algebraic 
sums  (formerly  never  begun  before  the  ninth  school 
year),  was  found  far  easier  than  the  finding  of  interest 
for  years,  months  and  days,  formerly  required  in  the 
seventh  elementary  school  year. 

Indeed  when  one  sits  down  with  all  the  possible  intro- 
ductory work  of  the  three  junior  high  school  years  in 
some  one  general  subject  spread  face  up  before  him, 
it  is  amazing  to  discover  how  many  of  the  so-called 
''harder  subjects"  owe  their  difficulty  not  so  much  to 
their  inherent  complexity  as  to  their  conventional  method 
of  presentation  upon  a  strictly  logical  basis. 

On  the  other  hand,  although  propositions  reserved  for 
the  sixth  book  of  our  old  style  geometry  if  analyzed  may 
prove  to  be  easier  than  some  of  the  examples  in  profit 
and  loss  in  our  seventh  elementary  school  year,  yet  we 
would  not  go  so  far  as  to  say  these  propositions  should 
of  necessity  be  taught  in  the  earlier  years  simply  because 
they  are  easy  of  comprehension. 

Having  agreed  in  a  general  way  that  the  old  school 
plans  should  not  be  followed,  but  rather  that  we  should 
take  up  the  new  work  according  to  its  ease  of  compre- 
hension, we  find  another  qualification  necessary. 

Unless  the  new  information,  so  easily  acquired,  is 
itself  of  value  in  helping  the  pupil  to  comprehend  more 
clearly  the  larger  topic  immediately  under  discussion, 
it  has  no  place  in  that  day's  work,  nor  in  any  day's  work 
where  it  fails  to  be  a  vscful  or  a  usable  addition  to  the 
child's  sum  of  knowledge.  Such  new  work  as  we  intro- 
duce must  appeal  to  the  pupil  not  only  as  something  in 
itself  worth  knowing,  but  equally  as  something  really 
necessary  for  the  better  comprehension  of  the  work 
either  immediately  at  hand  or  at  least  just  within  reach. 

We  may  conclude  then  that  in  our  junior  high  school, 


68  THE  JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL  IDEA 

we  will  follow  five  major  and  two  or  more  minor  lines 
of  work  as  follows: 

1.  General  Introductory  English 

2.  "  "  Mathematics 

3.  "  "  Social  Science 

4.  "  "  Natural  Science 

5.  "  "  Foreign  Language 

and  for  the  schools  that  require  it 

6.  General   Introductory    Art    (Music  —  Drawing) 

7.  Physical  Training 

8.  "  "  Shop  work 

These  first  seven  fields  of  work  we  shall  discuss  at 
length  later  in  separate  chapters,  but  here  we  may  well 
make  a  rapid  survey  of  the  implications  of  our  previous 
discussion. 

In  each  general  introductory  subject  we  will  begin  at 
once,  in  the  seventh  year,  the  work  of  the  old  ninth  school 
year  (first  high  school  year)  taking  this  new  work  gradu- 
ally. With  it  we  will  combine  some  parts  of  the  old  sev- 
enth and  eighth  school  years  adding  such  entirely  new 
work  as  may  be  advisable.  We  have  already  dismissed 
the  idea  of  continuing  the  old  style  seventh  and  eighth  year 
(elementary  school)  work  and  then  adding  a  ninth  year 
of  straight  high  school  work.  Those  few  school  systems 
that  have  tried  to  found  their  so  called  junior  high 
schools  on  this  latter  plan  have  met  with  small  success. 
Those  that  believe  a  junior  high  school  can  be  formed 
by  merely  grouping  the  last  two  years  of  the  elementary 
school  and  the  first  year  of  the  high  school  in  one  build- 
ing or  under  one  principalship  show  that  they  have  abso- 
lutely no  conception  of  the  junior  high  school  idea. 
Xo  mere  change  in  building  or  in  supervision  can  icork 
an  improvement  if  the  old  seventh,  eighth  and  ninth- 
year  plans  of  work  continue  unchanged. 


CHOOSING   THE   COURSE   OF   STUDY  69 

Having  agreed  upon  our  general  lines  of  work  and  to 
a  certain  extent  upon  the  general  method  to  be  followed 
we  may  consider  the  question  of  time  allotment  as  an 
important  factor  in  working  out  oue  new  course  of  study. 

For  the  seventh  school  year,  our  first  junior  high 
school  year,  all  our  pupils  will  follow  a  uniform  course 
of  study  so  far  as  subject-matter  and  time  schedules  are 
concerned. 

The  work  itself  will  be  the  same  for  all,  but  will  not 
be  as  formerly  a  preparation  for  but  one  type  (if  any) 
of  advanced  work. 

Our  aim  may  be  more  evident  if  we  say  that  our  first 
year  work  will  be  uniform  in  its  variety  giving  such 
experiences  as  will  help  the  pupil  to  discover  his  own 
aptitudes  and  make,  under  guidance,  his  selections  of 
one  of  the  five  courses  that  begin  at  the  end  of  this 
(seventh)  school  year. 

The  time  schedule  for  the  junior  high  school  year  may 
be  most  economically  worked  out  if  every  one  of  the 
seven  subjects  of  study  is  assigned  a  class  period  every 
day. 

Table  I 

Seventh  year:   Weekly  Schedule 


General  Introduct 

or> 

English 

5  (  +  D 

ti              a 

Mathematics 

5 

a                     (i 

- 

Social  Science 

5  (— 1) 

u                     u 

Natural  Science 

5 

it                      a 

Foreign  Language 

5 

ct                         tl 

Art 

5 

tc                      ic 

Physical  Training 

5 

Total  periods 

35 

To  be  sure,  such  a  schedule  takes  every  single  period 
of  a  thirty-five  period  week,  but  it  is  still  possible  to 


70  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

arrange  a  weekly  schedule  of  recitations  and  home  study 
periods  that  will  not  prove  a  burden  to  the  health  or  prog- 
ress of  any  normal  child. 

Physical  training  as  required  by  law  in  New  York 
State  comes  once  a  day  and  acts  as  a  recess  from  the 
more  confining  work  in  other  subjects.  At  least  one  ex- 
cursion each  week  lessens  the  amount  of  recitation  work 
by  two  periods.  The  work  in  introductory  art  (drawing 
and  music)  lightens  the  weekly  schedule  by  four  periods 
of  unprepared  work.  The  class  room  period  in  oral 
English  is  no  burden,  but  rather  a  period  of  enjoyment. 
One  assembly  period  taken  in  turn  from  the  major 
subjects  English,  mathematics,  social  science,  natural 
science,  lightens  the  total  week  in  these  subjects  by 
one  period  a  week.  One  period  of  music  is  always  held 
in  assembly  for  music  appreciation  or  chorus  work. 
Finally  in  order  that  the  nightly  schedule  of  home  work 
preparation  may  be  equally  arranged  some  subjects  may 
be  required  on  certain  days  to  give  a  study  period  (un- 
prepared lesson)  instead  of  recitation  period  for  one  of 
their  five  periods  for  that  work. 

Our  weekly  schedule  is  then  lightened  as  shown  be- 
low:— 

Total   school    periods    weekly 35 

Unprepared  periods — 

Physical  training: 5 

Introductory  Art 4 

Oral  English 1 

Assembly 1 

Excursion 2 

Subject   study   period...  2-f-  15  + 

Balance   prepared   periods 20 

This  leaves  a  schedule  of  twenty  periods  of  class  room 
recitation  which  may  further  be  lightened  if  necessary 


CHOOSING   THE   COURSE   OF   STUDY 


71 


by  the  substitution  of  more  subject  study  periods  to 
take  the  place  of  prepared  work. 

However,  four  periods  of  home  study  assigned  on  the 
basis  of  one  half  hour's  home  study  for  each  subject 
as  a  maximum  does  not  seem  too  hard  a  program. 

A  total  of  two  hours  maximum  home  study  appears  to 
be  a  reasonable  requirement,  if  the  teacher  understands 
that  the  maximum  is  not  to  be  the  rule  but  the  extreme 
limit.  One  and  one  half  hours'  work  is  the  rule  at  Speyer 
School. 

Allowance  must  be  made  as  early  as  the  eighth  school 
year  for  the  progressive  differentiation  of  the  junior 
high  school  leading  to  the  various  high  school  courses 
that  lie  ahead. 

In  English  the  Literature  and  the  Oral  English  may  re- 
main the  same,  but  Written  English  may  have  a  dis- 


SEVENTH  SCHOOL  YEAR 


EIGHTH  SCHOOL  YEAR  NINTH  SCHOOL  YEAR 

Business  correspondence 
Business  letters 


Simple  business 
correspondence 


y 


Commercial  forms 
Advertisements 


General  written 
English 

Friendly  letters 
School  topics 
Choice  of  life  work 


Si     ^ 

£  /  Jy4,  Friendly  letters 

C° 

'  '  School  content 


\> Friendly  letters 


Scientific  basis 


Essays,  Reports 


Book  reviews,  short  stories 


Articles  or  reports 


explaining  machines  or  processes 


Letters  about  the       Formal  letters  -  asking  information, 


trade  studied 


ordering  supplies,  submitting  estimates 


tinctly  commercial  trend  for  those  who  will  later  enter  a 
commercial  high  school.     Similarly,  for  those  who  will 


cz 


THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 


enter  a  technical,  or  vocational  course,  the  Written  Eng- 
lish work  will  be  closely  correlated  with  the  work  ahead. 
In  mathematics  this  differentiation  will  consist  in 
substituting  introductory  accounting  (book-keeping) 
for  the  algebra  and  geometry  of  the  general  course  for 
the  pupils  who  are  beginning  commercial  work  while  for 
vocational  pupils  the  emphasis  will  be  placed  upon  ap- 
plied arithmetic,  algebra  and  geometry  as  used  in  the 
shop  or  trade  the  pupil  expects  to  enter. 


SEVENTH  SCHOOL  YEAR 

EIGHTH  SCHOOL  YEAR 

NINTH  SCHOOL  YEAR 

V 

Introductory  accounting 

Advanced  Bookkeeping 

Business  Arith.,  Banking 

Accounting,  graphic 
representation 

i 
$/ 

c/  A 

Geometry,  Algebra 

Introduction 

i  Advanced  Arith. 

Geometry,  Algebra 

General  Introductory 

Mathematics 

Geometry,  Algebra 

Geometry,  Algebra 

r  Graphic  work 
^Advanced  arithmetic 

Logarithms,  slide  rule 

l  Applied  arith. 

Shop  mathematics 

In  Social  Science  the  general  introduction  to  a  history 
of  the  world  and  of  the  United  States  in  particular,  will 
be  continued,  except  that  for  commercial  and  vocational 
pupils  more  emphasis  will  be  laid  upon  the  economic 
and  industrial  phases  of  the  development  of  civilization 
than  upon  the  acts  of  political  or  military  leaders.  This 
study  of  industrial  evolution  will  be  followed  by  all  of 
the  pupils  except  those  who  are  preparing  for  the  aca- 
demic, or  scientific,  high  school  courses.    For  all  pupils 


CHOOSING   THE   COURSE   OF   STUDY 


73 


of  whatever  course  the  new  course  in  community  civics 
will  be  the  same. 


SEVENTH  SCHOOL  YEAR    EIGHTH  SCHOOL  YEAR    NINTH  SCHOOL  YEAS 


Ancient  and  medieval       Medieval  and  modern 


/  myths  and  legends 
?/* 

exploration  and 
settlement 

General  Intro.    /ALL    American  History 

American  History 

Social  Science    \            Community  Civics 

Community  Civics 

3\l 

# 

\  Industrial  emphasis 

Industrial  evolution 

Inventions  -  Economics 


The  necessities  of  the  weekly  time  schedule  will  pre- 
vent all  vocational  pupils  from  continuing  in  general 
natural  science  after  the  first  year  and  will  make  it 
difficult  for  commercial  pupils  unless  they  are  exception- 
ally able  to  continue  with  natural  science  in  addition  to 
a  foreign  language  and  typewriting. 

SEVENTH  SCHOOL  YEAR   EIGHTH  SCHOOL  YEAR    NINTH  SCHOOL  YEAR 


None 


None 


General  Intro. 

Natural  Science  /Acaden 


(Typewriting) 


Gen.  Physics  & 
Chem.  Science 


(Typewriting) 


Gen.  Biology  & 
Bacterial  Sci. 


None 


(Shop  practice)  (Shop  practice) 


Stenography  will  not  be  taught  to  those  commercial 
pupils  who  will  get  that  training  later  on  in  the  commer- 


74 


THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 


cial  high  school,  but  commercial  pupils  whose  school 
training  will  terminate  with  the  end  of  their  junior  high 
school  period  will  be  permitted  to  take  stenography  in- 
stead of  a  foreign  language. 


SEVENTH  SCHOOL  YEAR 


EIGHTH  SCHOOL  YEAR 


NINTH  SCHOOL  YEAR 


General  Intro. 
Foreign  Language 


French  or  German 
or  Spanish 


or  stenography 


Latin  or 


French  or  German 
or  Spanish 


or  stenography 


Basis  English  and 
Latin  or  French 


Scientific         French  or  German 


None 


(Shop  work) 


French  or  German 


None 


(Shop  work) 


A  series  of  diagrams  may  show  the  general  plan  of 
progressive  differentiation. 

For  the  eighth  and  ninth  school  years  the  general  dis- 
tribution of  time  for  the  differentiated  courses  may 
work  out  more  or  less  in  accordance  with  the  plan  given 
below  in  which  the  periods  per  week  are  shown  under 
five  possible  lines  of  work. 


CHOOSING   THE    COURSE   OF   STUDY 


75 


Periods  Per  Week  Eighth  and  Ninth  School  Years 


English 

Mathematics 
Social  Science  .  .  . 
Natural  Science.  . 
Foreign  Language 

Typewriting 

Stenography 

Introductory  Art. 
Physical  Training- 
Shop  Work 


Aca- 

Scien- 

Com- 

Busi- 

demic 

tific 

mercial 

ness 

High 

High 

High 

Employ- 

School 

School 

School 

ment 

6 

6 

6 

5 

5 

5 

5 

10 

5 

5 

5 

5 

5 

5 

5 

5 

5 

5 

5 

5 

4 

4 

4 

5 

5 

5 

5 

35 

35 

35 

35 

Voca- 
tional 
Employ- 
ment 


5 
15 


35 


If  we  really  believe  that  our  pupils  should  be  chiefly 
concerning  now  with  acquiring  information  that  will  still 
be  worth  while  ten  years  from  now,  we  might  be  led  to 
select  for  study  subjects  that  are  entirely  beyond  their 
mental  range. 

Our  problem  first  is  to  select  for  study  such  work  as 
will  be  necessary  and  useful  at  the  very  time  it  is  ac- 
quired in  helping  the  pupil  to  find  himself.  In  addition 
to  its  present  value,  however,  the  subjects  of  study  must 
he  necessary  and  useful  for  understanding  the  new  work 
that  lies  just  ahead.  Finally,  if  our  subjects  of  study 
arc  to  really  fill  our  requirements  they  must  have  in  them 
elements  that  will  be  necessary  and  useful  to  the  pupil 
many  years  after  he  has  studied  them  in  school. 

Our  junior  high  school  with  eyes  facing  forward  help- 
pupils  to  find  themselves  and  to  rely  increasingly  upon 


76  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

themselves  in  studying  willingly  subject  matter  of  un- 
questioned value  to  the  student  both  when  it  is  studied 
and  in  after  life  as  well. 

1.  What  is  the  attitude  of  the  man  on  the  street  toward 

school  work  and  why  does  this  attitude  persist? 

2.  Why  may  a  teacher  easily  come  to  assume  the  importance 

of  his  specialty? 

3.  Why  cannot  the  junior  high  school  plan  its  work  on  the 

sole  basis  of  its  permanent  usefulness  when  school  work 
is  completed? 

4.  Explain  the  methods  we  must  employ  in  finding  our  pu- 

pils' fitness  for  special  lines  of  work. 

5.  What  false  emphasis  may  I  as  a  teacher  often  place  upon 

the  topics  I  teach  in  my  specialty? 

6.  Of  what  significance  to  my  pupils  is  the  immediate  use- 

fulness of  the  subject  I  teach? 

7.  What  major  lines  of  work  are  we  obliged  to  follow  in  the 

junior  high  school? 

8.  What  must  we  aim  to  do  in  each  major  line  besides  giving 

our  pupil  the  subject  matter  that  the  senior  high  school 
may  require? 

9.  On  what  basis  should  the  graded  sequence  of  topics  in 

each  subject  be  arranged? 

10.  Plan  a  weekly  time  schedule  for  each  junior  high  school 

year. 

11.  Defend  the  schedule  planned. 


CHAPTER  V 
GENERAL   METHOD   IN   THE    JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL 

PART  I  —  RATIONALIZATION 

Many  years  ago  a  teacher  of  Latin  in  the  room  ad- 
joining mine  was  accustomed  to  interest  his  first  year 
high  school  pupils  by  insisting  upon  the  value  of  a  study 
of  Latin  for  all  occupations  his  pupils  might  follow  in 
after  life.  Over  and  over  again  he  would  assure  his 
pupils  that  no  matter  what  they  did  when  they  left 
school  they  would  do  that  thing  better  if  they  faith- 
fully studied  their  Latin  lessons  for  him.  I  have  heard 
him  assure  boys  in  his  class  that  they  would  be  better 
office  boys,  better  salesmen,  better  electricians  —  and  the 
girls  that  they  would  be  better  teachers,  clerks,  or  house- 
wives if  they  would  apply  themselves  to  a  study  of 
Latin.  This  assurance  was  given  not  on  one  day  in  the 
term,  but  at  some  time  during  practically  every  Latin 
lesson,  day  in  and  day  out,  until  by  mere  insistence  with- 
out argument  he  built  up  a  faith  in  the  value  of  Latin 
that  secured  the  first  place  for  that  subject  in  the  pu- 
pils' minds. 

However  far  this  teacher  may  have  let  his  faith  dic- 
tate his  facts  in  these  assurances,  he  at  least  had  found 
one  fundamental  basis  for  high  school  instruction.  Ju- 
nior high  school  pupils  have  an  abiding  interest  in  doing 
hotter  the  things  they  will  do  anyway,  however  much  they 
may  disregard  their  daily  lessons. 

77 


78  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

If  as  a  result  of  our  training,  our  pupils  actually  do 
better  those  things  they  "will  do  anyway  then  we  feel 
that  our  efforts  for  them  have  not  been  in  vain. 

Too  often,  we  must  admit,  boys  and  girls  of  adoles- 
cent age  who  are  permitted  to  •  shirk  their  lessons  and  to 
evade  every  school  responsibility,  are  becoming  more 
or  less  surely  trained  to  do  increasingly  worse  the  things 
they  will  do  anyway. 

Let  us  admit  that  our  schools  do  not  of  necessity  train 
better  workers,  that  our  subjects  of  study  do  not  by  their 
intrinsic,  undemonstrated  worth,  work  improvement  in 
our  pupils'  subsequent  careers,  and  we  are  in  a  better 
position  to  make  our  daily  efforts  for  our  pupils'  welfare 
unquestionably  worth  their  while. 

Among  our  entering  pupils  we  always  find  some  who 
in  the  parlance  of  the  faculty-room  simply  "eat  up"  their 
work.  It  makes  little  or  no  difference  to  these  pupils 
what  subjects  they  may  be  called  upon  to  study  —  let 
it  only  be  known  what  the  teacher  requires  and  they 
will  set  themselves  steadfastly  to  the  accomplishment  of 
their  task.  Whatever  be  the  motives  that  impel  such 
a  group  to  industry,  their  assiduity  is  an  undeniable 
fact.  This  group  of  earnest  students  is  always  rated  high 
in  school  work,  always  successful  at  promotion  time 
and  usually  successful,  though  by  no  means  always  so, 
in  their  work  on  leaving  school.  It  is  scarcely  possible, 
however,  for  any  teacher  to  take  great  credit  to  him- 
self for  the  training  of  such  pupils  —  they  are  what  they 
are  by  no  virtue  of  the  school  or  its  instruction,  but  by 
a  heredity  for  which  the  school  can  neither  be  praised 
nor  blamed. 

By  far  the  larger  group  of  adolescent  children  come 
to  school  at  least  partly  under  protest.  They  welcome  the 
holidays  and  feel  no  sense  of  loss  if  their  work  moves 


GENERAL   METHODS  79 

slowly.  Every  lesson  they  are  assigned  is  more  or  less 
a  disagreeable  thing  to  be  gotten  out  of  the  way  with  as 
little  effort  as  possible.  These  pupils  may  like  their 
school,  appreciate  their  teachers  and  for  the  most  part 
do  their  daily  work  in  a  satisfactory  manner,  but  they  are 
rarely,  if  ever,  eager  to  spend  their  free  time  in  school 
work. 

There  may  be,  deep  in  the  hearts  and  minds  of  these 
pupils,  some  faith  that  in  some  way,  to  some  extent,  they 
will  be  more  successful  men  and  women  as  a  result  of 
their  school  training,  but  this  faith  is  scarcely  strong 
enough  to  serve  as  a  motive  for  daily  work. 

These  young  adolescents  are  none  too  ready  to  accept 
such  a  faith  to  explain  the  incongruities  they  daily  ob- 
serve between  the  world  of  work  and  the  world  of  study. 
If  we  would  secure  the  industry  we  ask,  we  must  take 
pains  to  show  our  pupils  the  reasonableness  of  our  daily 
assignments  in  terms  of  whatever  work  our  pupils  hope  to 
undertake  on  leaving  school. 

From  his  superior  position,  knowledge  and  authority, 
the  teacher  of  eaeh  subject,  enthusiastic  in  his  faith  in 
that  subject,  looks  down  in  disgust  at  what  he  may  regard 
as  his  slacker  pupil.  For  the  teacher  who  earns  his  living 
by  teaching  mathematics,  for  example,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  as  to  the  value  of  mathematics  in  making  for  his 
own  success.  For  him  mathematics  is  food,  clothing 
and  shelter.  Gradually  he  comes  to  believe  that  the  pu- 
pil who  does  not  regard  mathematics  as  a  thing  worth 
while  has  some  ill-defined,  but  undoubted  moral  delin- 
quency. Yet  if  he  be  a  teacher  of  unusual  merit  he  may 
be  able  to  get  the  pupil's  point  of  view. 

For  the  pupil  the  period  in  mathematics  is  merely  a 
small,  pleasant  or  unpleasant,  incident  in  his  school  day. 
The  pupil  will  be  fed,  clothed  and  sheltered  whether  or 


80  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

not  his  work  in  mathematics  is  up  to  the  school  standard. 
Neither  his  parents  nor  his  playmates  will  think  much 
more  or  less  of  him  if  his  daily  work  is  good  or  bad.  No 
pupil  wants  to  be  left  behind  when  his  class  is  promoted 
—  no  pupil  can  be  said  to  enjoy  failure  —  yet  there  is 
always  the  question  as  to  which  is,  after  all,  the  greater 
loss,  the  daily  loss  of  time  to  read  interesting  books, 
to  play  interesting  games,  to  join  interesting  playfellows, 
or  such  loss  of  prestige  as  may  follow  his  failure  to  be 
promoted.  The  usual  result  is  a  compromise  by  which 
the  pupil  endeavors  to  get  the  maximum  of  free  time  for 
play  with  the  minimum  of  school  work  for  promotion. 

Can  we  blame  these  children  for  such  a  choice  as  they 
really  make.  If  children  were  able  to  judge  relative  val- 
ues as  well  as  their  parents  there  would  be  little  or  no  use 
for  either  schools  or  teachers.  It  is  because  children  are 
children,  for  the  time  an  only  partly  civilized  race,  that 
they  need  instruction  at  home  and  in  school. 

Children,  when  wholly  free  to  choose,  by  no  means 
always  select  the  easier  way,  but  usually,  if  not  unfail- 
ingly, do  select  the  more  pleasant  way  to  spend  an  hour, 
a  week  or  a  month.  In  the  old  school  days  the  birch  rod 
made  sure  that  the  path  of  duty  was  always  more  pleas- 
ant. School  work  was  not  made  more  attractive,  buf. 
shirking  school  work  was  made  more  painful. 

Even  though  the  birch  rod  may  be  relegated  to  the 
rubbish  heap  our  best  boarding  schools  control  their 
pupils'  industry  by  no  very  different  method.  The  boy 
or  girl  who  shirks  is  not  actually  made  to  suffer  physical 
pain  perhaps,  but  the  graded  loss  of  school  privileges, 
the  confinement  to  the  study  hall,  the  exclusion  from 
the  athletic  teams,  the  loss  of  holidays  and  similar  de- 
privations are  all  designed  to  make  the  way  of  the 
transgressor  artificially  hard. 


GENERAL   METHODS  81 

In  our  public  day  high  schools  we  have  neither  the 
birch  rod,  nor  the  twenty-four  hour  control  by  which  we 
can  make  the  disagreeable  daily  lessons  more  pleasant  by 
a  manipulated  comparison  which  makes  the  avoidance 
of  these  lessons  still  more  disagreeable.  There  remains 
then  for  us  only  the  possibility  of  making  our  school  work 
so  reasonable  that  the  doing  of  it  will  actually  be  more 
pleasant  than  the  leaving  of  it  undone. 

We  can  avoid,  if  we  wish,  taking  sides  upon  the  merits 
of  the  effort  vs.  interest  controversy  if  we  frankly  admit 
that  we  have  no  way  of  securing  our  pupils'  efforts  ex- 
cept by  leading  the  pupils  to  take  an  interest  in  their 
work.  While  we  may  invent  and  employ  upon  our  shirk- 
ers all  legitimate  penalties  and  deprivations,  we  can 
never  hope  to  get  a  high  degree  of  industry  in  our  classes 
as  a  whole  except  by  helping  each  individual  to  get  some 
actual  satisfaction,  some  genuine  pleasure,  from  doing 
the  school  tasks  we  constantly  propose. 

To  return  to  our  Latin  teacher,  though  he  may  have 
sadly  stretched  the  truth  in  his  efforts  to  secure  industry 
in  the  study  of  Latin,  nevertheless  he  had  found  a 
fundamental  interest  for  his,  and  for  all,  school  work. 
If  pupils  can  be  convinced,  and  usually  they  are  not 
convinced,  that  as  a  result  of  school  study  they  will  do 
better  those  desirable  things  (often  to  them  wholly  un- 
related to  school  work)  which  they  will  ultimately  do 
anyway,  the  question  of  interest  vs.  effort  settles  itself. 

There  is  for  us  then  of  necessity  but  one  thing  to  be 
done  to  make  all  our  work  appear  a  preparation,  as 
it  ought  to  be,  for  doing  better  whatever  worthy  under- 
takings the  boy  or  girl  will  later  enter  upon.  It  will  not  be 
sufficient  for  us  to  tell  our  pupils  that  it  is  enough  for 
them  to  know  that  the  allwise  school  authorities  have 
put  these  chosen  subjects  in  the  school  curriculum  because 


82  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

they  are  necessary  to  the  pupil's  future  success.  Indeed  it 
will  be  hard  for  us'as  teachers  of  science  to  include  all  the 
school's  grammar  in  such  a  divine-right  group.  Equally 
hard  will  it  be  for  the  new  teacher  of  English  to  give  even 
semi-divine  sanction  to  all  the  intricacies  of  algebraic- 
surds,  yet  it  is  scarcely  possible  for  us  to  claim  for  our 
one  subject,  our  specialty,  the  sanction  which  we  our- 
selves may  deny  the  work  in  other  lines. 

If  for  a  time  in  planning  our  work  we  put  from  our 
minds  our  real  pupils  and  pretend  that  our  fellow  teachers 
are  the  pupils  of  our  class,  we  may  be  aided  in  discovering 
those  things  in  our  own  work  which  actually  have  un- 
questioned educative  value.  Indeed  unless  we  plan  for- 
ever to  alternately  bully  and  cajole  our  pupils  to  their 
work,  we  must  have  aims  and  reasons  that  will  stand 
the  criticism  of  our  fellow  teachers  of  other  subjects. 

If  we  accept  Professor  Briggs's  statement  of  the  guid- 
ing principle  of  our  junior  high  school  work  —  and  no 
better  statement  has  yet  been  made  by  any  one  —  we 
must  not  be  content  with  simply  selecting  and  assign- 
ing the  school  work  which  we  as  individuals  believe  will 
make  our  pupils  do  better  the  things  they  will  do  anyway, 
but  we  must  never  forget  that  until  we  have  convinced 
our  pupils  that  our  assignments  will  have  this  ultimate 
value,  we  have  done  only  half  our  own  work  as  teachers. 

So  it  is  worth  while  for  us  as  teachers  to  spend  no 
end  of  time  and  effort  as  our  lessons  progress  to  make 
a  case  for  our  subject  and  to  remember,  no  matter  how 
distasteful  such  a  position,  we  are  still  lawyers  for  the 
defense,  in  the  trial  of  our  subject,  with  our  pupils  sitting 
as  both  judge  and  jury.  Therefore  if  we  would  gain  the 
verdict  which  will  secure  our  pupils'  industry  as  a  re- 
sult of  the  satisfaction  they  will  get  from  doing  their 
daily  work,  we  must  spare  no  pains  and  lose  no  op- 


GENERAL    METHODS  83 

portunity  to  make  our  case  strong  in  our  pupils'  minds. 

Time  is  not  wasted  that  is  spent  in  convincing  our 
pupils  that  they  will  benefit  directly  from  what  we  will 
try  to  teach  them.  At  the  beginning  of  our  work  we 
may  spend  almost  half  the  time  in  making  plain  the 
usefulness  of  our  subject  and  we  must  never  allow  this 
side  of  our  work  to  suffer  from  neglect. 
•  We  know  as  experienced  teachers  that  it  is  fatal 
to  begin  any  new  work  with  a  review  'of  what  has  been 
previously  covered,  no  matter  how  well  or  how  ill  that 
earlier  work  may  have  been  done.  We  know  that  the 
way  to  kill  interest  in  something  new  is  to  rub  the  bloom 
off  the  peach  by  too  much  preparation.  So  in  each  new 
subject  and  each  new  phase  of  an  older  subject  we  take 
up  the  new  work  as  we  reach  it  with  practically  no  hesi- 
tation or  delay.  We  can  never  hope  to  make  a  case 
for  our  subject  by  a  single  general  appeal  which  will 
secure  an  acceptance  of  our  contentions  once  and  for 
nil.  The  converts  of  our  first  months  are  back-sliders 
of  the  second  month  and  so  to  be  successful  our  appeal 
must  be  continuous.  Not  that  our  pupils  do  not  gain 
much  by  taking  up  a  new  subject  in  the  proper  spirit, 
but  that  the  mere  beginning  well  is  no  sure  promise  of 
enduring  well.  Therefore  from  day  to  day  we  must  make 
unfailing  and  studied  reference  to  the  value  of  our  sub- 
ject even  though  it  appear  we  do  so  most  casually. 

What  may  appear  to  the  class  almost  as  an  aside  — 
something  merely  noted  in  passing  —  may  be  a  most  vital 
point  in  the  teacher's  daily  preparation.  Some  refer- 
ence beginning  "You  will  use  this  .  .  .  ,"  "You  will  find 
this  .  .  .  very  necessary  .when  .  .  ."or  "This  infor- 
mation (ability,  skill)  will  be  very  helpful  when  ..." 
will  often  be  the  means  of  saving  for  the  school  some 
doubting  Thomas  whose  faith  in  the  real  value  of  your 


84  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

subject  may,  all  unknown  to  you,  have  almost  reached 
the  vanishing  point. 

Of  course  we  all  believe  in  the  value  of  working,  if  not 
indeed  always  from  a  sense  of  duty,  yet  not  uncommonly 
from  that  motive.  If  we  can  build  up  this  sense  of  duty 
we  owe  it  to  ourselves  and  to  our  pupils  to  do  so. 

Nothing  that  we  have  tried  and  are  trying  to  do  to 
make  our  work  appear  of  unquestioned  ultimate  value 
need  keep  us  from  trying  to  develop  that  ethical  sense 
which  will  lead  our  pupils  to  take  honest  pride  in  work 
well  done  from  a  pure  sense  of  duty  without  the  motive 
of  self  interest.  Nevertheless  it  is  wrong  for  us  to  assume 
that  while  as  teachers  we  would  be  morally  delinquent 
in  failing  to  teach  the  subject  for  which  we  are  engaged, 
our  pupils  in  turn  may  be  equally  delinquent  morally,  if 
they  refuse  to  study  from  a  sense  of  duty  alone,  the  work 
we  assign. 

The  one  controlling  thought  in  junior  high  school 
method  is  reasonableness.  In  this  it  departs  from  the 
practice  in  both  elementary  and  high  schools.  In  the 
elementary  schools  the  compulsory  education  laws  com- 
pel attendance  and  provide  pupils  who  cannot  long  es- 
cape or  avoid  the  tasks  assigned.  In  the  high  schools, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  pupils  usually  are  obliged  to  leave 
school  (as  they  do  in  such  numbers)  to  avoid  the  assump- 
tion that  they  are  in  school  to  do  the  tasks  assigned  with- 
out questioning  their  value. 

The  junior  high  school  alone  assumes  the  burden  of 
proof,  if  it  is  true  to  its  ideals.  The  junior  high  school 
teachers  alone  voluntarily  relinquish  their  right  to  teach 
their  subjects  by  virtue  of  their  position  of  temporary 
authority  and  seek  rather  to  justify  before  their  pupils 
in  the  classroom  the  right  of  their  subjects  to  the  pupils' 
interest,  effort  and   application  on  the   ground   of   the 


GENERAL   METHODS  85 

reasonableness  of  the  work  assigned.  The  junior  high 
school  pupils  alone  are  granted,  and  indeed  are  urged  to 
assume,  the  right  to  question  the  reasonableness  of  the 
work  they  are  daily  asked  to  do  and  by  being  convinced 
of  its  present  and  future  value  are  led  to  work  more 
intelligently  and  with  greater  self-benefit  than  the  pupils 
of  any  other  type  of  school  below  the  college  or  univer- 
sity. 

PART  II  —  ARTICULATION 

As  a  part  of  any  discussion  in  General  Method  may 
come  a  consideration  of  the  general  attitude  of  the  junior 
high  school  teacher  toward  the  work  his  pupils  will 
soon  take  up  in  the  senior  high  school. 

Unless  there  is  complete  sympathy  and  a  full  compre- 
hension of  the  aims  and  purposes  of  each  school,  the 
pupils  are  apt  to  suffer  by  the  break  at  the  end  of  the 
ninth  school  year  as  much  as  they  now  may  suffer  in 
going  from  the  elementary  to  the  high  school. 

Because  a  great  deal  is  being  said  and  written  about 
the  "articulation"  of  the  junior  and  senior  high  school 
a  brief  consideration  of  some  of  the  most  important 
factors  that  experiment  and  experience  have  shown  nec- 
essary may  not  be  out  of  place  at  this  time. 

The  word  "articulation,"  often  applied  to  the  relation 
of  the  junior  and*  senior  high  schools,  implies  the  join- 
ing of  things  more  or  loss  distinct  though  as  closely 
"articulated"  as  the  arm  and  the  body  in  human  anatomy. 

A  better  picture  of  the  ideal  relation  of  the  junior  and 
senior  high  schools,  if  taken  from  anatomy,  is  the  way 
our  muscles  and  tendons  unite.  Innumerable  microsco- 
pic strands  of  connective  tissue  from  innumerable  muscle 
fibres  are  extended  to  a  point  beyond  which  there  is  no 


86  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

longer  muscle  tissue  but  only  tendons  —  yet  the  tendon 
reaches  and  is  attached  to  every  part  of  the  muscle. 

So  we  may  picture  the  ideal  relationship  of  the  senior 
and  junior  schools — -the  aims,  purposes  and  courses  of 
study  so  closely  bound  that  even  specialists  cannot  tell 
where  one  leaves  off  and  the  other  begins.  The  separa- 
tion in  years  and  in  buildings  we  should  aim  to  make 
of  no  more  actual  significance  than  is  the  length  of  the 
sleeve  to  the  arm  muscles  it  covers. 

The  junior  high  school  is  primarily  a  rinding  and  a 
sorting  school  —  here  the  tastes,  aptitudes  and  capacities 
of  pupils  are  to  have  an  intellectual  try-out,  based  upon 
real  first  hand  experience  with  some  of  the  school  work 
that  lies  just  ahead. 

No  longer  must  children  make  their  selection  of  a  high 
school,  or  of  a  high  school  course,  a  matter  of  chance, 
of  faith,  or  of  blind  obedience.  No  longer  must  children 
enter  a  high  school  first  and  find  out  what  is  taught 
there  afterwards. 

There  should  be  in  the  junior  high  school,  which  is  a 
''finding  and  sorting"  school,  courses  of  study  that  are 
finding  and  sorting  courses. 

The  lines  of  work  that  lie  just  ahead  are  not  merely 
studied  on  the  map,  as  formerly,  but  the  pupil  actually 
travels  in  person  along  each  of  the  main  lines  of  advanced 
study,  if  but  for  a  very  short  distance,  yet  far  enough 
in  most  cases  to  show  the  pupil,  his  instructors  and  his 
parents,   where  that  pupil's  talents  and   aptitudes   lie. 

I.  First  among  the  essentials  for  the  perfect  and  har- 
monious cooperation  of  the  two  schools  —  or  the  two 
phases  of  one  school  as  they  really  are  —  is  the  plan- 
ning of  courses  of  study  (or  if  we  modernize  our  termin- 
ology "curricula")  that  enable  the  pupil  to  make  his 
successive  steps  of  progressive  differentiation  and  special- 


GENERAL   METHODS  87 

ization  in  his  work  come  as  the  result  of  actual  first 
hand  experience  in  his  class  room. 

It  is  reasonable  to  expect  that  within  a  very  few  years 
we  shall  find  in  the  junior  high  schools  a  plan  consisting 
of  one,  two  or  three  years  of  work  along  these  principal 
lines: 

1.  General  Introductory  Mathematics 

2.  General  Introductory  Natural  Science 

3.  General  Introductory  Social  Science 

4.  General  Introductory  English 

a.  Magazines 

b.  Newspapers 

c.  Classics 

5.  General  Introductory  Foreign  Language 

6.  General  Introductory  Art 

a.  Drawing  —  Manual  Training 

b.  Music  —  Vocal 

7.  General  Introductory  Body-training 

It  is  unnecessary  to  call  attention  here  to  the  abso- 
lute necessity  of  having  these  courses  or  curricula  that 
are  anywhere  to  be  locally  administered  —  planned  either 
by  one  mind,  or  by  a  group  of  minds  in  conference,  to 
the  end  that: 

1.  Each  course  shall  first  of  all  embody  the  principles 
of  unity  in  purpose,  and  grading  in  difficulty,  and  that 

2.  Each  shall  be,  as  far  as  humanly  possible,  made 
up  of  selected  bits  of  reasonable  adolescent  experience 
rather  than  of  selected  excerpts  from  secondary  text 
books. 

II.  A  second  essential  to  a  perfect  and  harmonious 
union  of  the  two  phases  of  secondary  school  work  is  unity 
of  supervision. 

It  lias  been  repeatedly  urged  in  reports  and  surveys  that 
junior  high  school  administrators  should  be  experienced 
as  actual  teachers  in  both  high  and  elementary  school 


S8  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

work.  Where  it  is  possible  to  secure  supervision  of  this 
type,  no  better  guarantee  of  unity  in  supervision  is  nec- 
essary. 

Our  difficulties  here  (and  they  have  been  and  still 
are  most  discouraging)  have  arisen  from  a  conscious 
or  unconscious  partisanship  of  the  supervisor,  based 
upon  his  previous  experience  as  a  teacher.  There  is  no 
question  but  that  such  a  partisanship  works  injury  to 
the  junior  pupils,  no  matter  on  what  side  the  super- 
visor's preferences  lie. 

The  suggested  appointment  of  subject-supervisors  in 
the  major  lines  of  work  —  Mathematics,  English,  Social 
Science,  Natural  Science,  etc.,  etc.,  is  open  to  the  same 
objection.  Where  are  those  high  school  supervisors  to 
be  found  who  combine  an  appreciation  of  their  subject 
with  an  appreciation  of  an  elementary  school  child's 
mind?  The  supervisor  may  know  Biology  but  does  he 
know  boys? 

Time,  however,  will  cure  and  is  curing  this  defect,  as 
the  places  at  the  top  become  filled  with  those  teachers 
who  are  finding  their  way  to  promotion  through  the 
junior  high  schools.  Wre  are  discovering  that  the  teacher 
That  is  able  to  teach  successfully  in  a  junior  high  school 
is  equally  able  to  teach  successfully  in  a  senior  school. 

As  a  second  factor  in  supervision  the  uniform  com- 
pulsory ninth  year  examination  has  been  proposed.  Such 
a  proposal,  while  it  may  seem  harsh,  still  if  modified  by 
mutual  agreement  to  cover  a  series  of  examinations  drawn 
by  both  junior  and  senior  high  school  teachers  in 
conference,  has  much  to  merit  consideration.  This 
certainly  would  be  one  way  of  forcing  continuity  of 
instruction  and  might,  if  not  abused,  lead  to  a  better 
articulation  of  work.  But  on  the  other  hand,  it  might 
as  easily  lead  to  the  well  known  abuses  —  cramming  for 


GENERAL   METHODS  89 

the  examinations,  teaching  for  the  subject  only  and  not 
for  the  pupil,  frightening  away  the  less  persistent  and 
often  killing  off  the  more  able  along  with  the  less  fit. 

Promotion  by  subject  from  the  one  school  to  the  other 
may  be  highly  desirable  when  possible,  but  frequently 
this  is  not  possible  because  ninth  year  subjects  are  not 
repeated  in  many  senior  high  schools. 

Unity  in  plan  and  unity  in  supervision  are,  after  all, 
but  means  to  an  end.  Even  with  perfect  unity  so  far 
secured  we  have  not  yet  reached  the  pupil  nor  do  we 
reach  him  until  we  enter  the  class-room  in  the  person 
of  the  class-room  teacher.  We  must  admit  that  no  plan 
and  no  supervision  can  do  much  more  than  to  make  this 
desirable  unity  or  continuity  of  instruction  possible  and 
attractive. 

III.  The  cooperative  efforts  of  the  teachers  in  both 
schools  is  absolutely  required  to  make  the  possible  become 
the  actual.  The  one  greatest  enemy  of  the  perfect  union 
of  the  junior  and  senior  high  schools  is  a  lack  of  acquain- 
tance of  the  class  room  teachers  in  the  one  school  with 
those  in  the  other.  From  this  ignorance  springs  distrust, 
and  recriminations  that  lead  us  only  into  greater  estrange- 
ment. 

The  one  best  means  of  curing  this  mutual  ignorance 
and  distrust  in  class  room  instruction  is  a  remedy  as 
simple  and  easy  of  application  as  it  is  efficacious.  The 
actual,  living  unity  and  continuity  in  and  between  ju- 
nior and  senior  high  schools  can  be  secured  neither  by 
printed  plan  nor  by  careful  supervision  as  successfully  as 
by  compelling  the  teachers  of  the  two  schools  to  become 
acquainted  with  each  other's  work.  In  a  word,  this  rem- 
edy is  to  make  compulsory- and  without  the  possibility 
of  escape,  a  personal,  first-hand  acquaintance  of 
the  work,  the  aims,  the  methods  of  the  junior  and  of  the 


90  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

senior  high  school  class-room  teachers,  the  one  with  the 
other. 

No  other  thing  can  replace  this  mutual  knowledge 
secured  by  actual  exchange  of  visits;  no  lectures,  ad- 
dresses, articles  or  conferences  can  be  substituted  for  the 
visit  in  person.  No  other  thing  can  claim  to  approach  in 
importance  this  mutual  observation  of  work  and  mutual 
study  of  purposes.  Unfortunately,  in  many  communities 
this  exchange  of  visits  will  never  be  accomplished  until 
it  is  laid  down  as  an  unavoidable  duty.  Hence,  our  insist- 
ence on  the  compulsory  and  serious  nature  of  this 
exchange. 

From  this  exchange  of  visits  comes  first  a  better  appre- 
ciation by  the  teachers  of  both  schools  of  the  subject- 
matter  to  be  taught  in  the  other  school.  This,  of  neces- 
sity, will  lead  at  first  to  a  greater  conformity  of  the 
junior  high  school  to  the  senior  requirements.  The  first 
and 'foremost  thing  that  the  junior  high  boy  or  girl  must 
do  is  to  survive  in  the.  senior  school.  Unless  there  is 
"survival"  there  can  be  no  continuity  in  fact. 

However  well  taught  and  well  trained  in  other  lines 
a  junior  high  school  pupil  may  be,  unless  that  pupil 
is  able  to  sustain  himself  in  the  entering' term  of  the 
senior  high  school  all  is  lost. 

The  junior  high  school  teacher  who  is  preparing  pu- 
pils for  the  tenth  school  year  must  be  compelled,  not 
merely  invited,  compelled  to  observe  high  school  work  in 
that  year,  must  be  compelled  to  study  the  situations 
her  pupils  will  be  ultimately  forced  to  face.  These 
visits  must  not  be  optional,  perfunctory,  casual,  but 
required  as  of  as  great,  or  greater,  importance  than 
any  work  she  may  undertake  in  her  own  class  room  in 
her  own  junior  school. 

During  the  initial  years  of  any  junior  high  school's 


GENERAL   METHODS  91 

existence  and  thereafter  until  a  high  degree  of  con- 
tinuity is  secured,  not  less  than  one  day  each  month  and 
preferably  more  at  the  beginning,  should,  by  official  di- 
rection, be  required  of  each  junior  teacher  for  personal 
observation  and  study  in  the  senior  high  school. 

But  though  the  burden  lies  chiefly  upon  the  shoulders 
of  the  junior  high  school  teacher  there  is  still  some  obli- 
gation on  the  other  side.  If,  by  visits  and  personal  ob- 
servations, the  senior  high  school  teacher  becomes  con- 
vinced that  the  junior  pupils  are  really  being  well  taught 
(though  still  in  some  respects  not  as  he  himself  would 
teach  them)  there  will  come  conviction  that  if  these  pu- 
pils do  not  at  first  make  a  complete  adjustment,  possibly 
the  fault  may  not  be  wholly  that  of  the  junior  high  school. 
The  senior  teacher  as  a  result  of  his  visits  will  be  led 
to  see  that  possession  of  a  college  degree  after  the  com- 
pletion (many  years  back)  of  a  few  elective  courses  in 
his  specialty  does  not  of  necessity  give  him  and  his  sim- 
ilarly fortunate  fellows  the  copyright  on  all  present 
and  future  knowledge  in  his  chosen  line  of  work.  If  he 
has  studied  and  learned,  others  may  still  do  so,  if  they 
have  not  done  so  already.  The  assumption  that  one  who 
has  worked  in  other  fields  for  years  back  may  never 
approach  him  or  his  department  teachers  in  either  knowl- 
edge or  technique,  is  a  barrier  to  continuity  that  can 
only  be  removed  by  repeated  compulsory  investigations. 

However,  instruction  that  is  faulty  in  subject-matter 
may  more  often  be  charged  against  the  junior  school. 
When  faults  in  methods  of  teaching  are  discovered  the 
blame  is  quite  apt  to  be  shifted  to  the  senior  teacher's 
shoulders. 

In  Annapolis,  where  our  Navy  officers  are  trained, 
there  used  to  be,  and  possibly  still  is,  the  custom  of  ap- 
pointing as  instructors,  officers  who  were  specialists  and 


92  THE  JUNIOR   HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

experts  each  in  his  chosen  field.  The  young  middies 
then  came  to  their  class  rooms  after  a  night  of 
study  prepared  to  prove  to  the  instructor  that  they 
had  mastered  the  tasks  assigned  to  them  the  day  before. 
The  officer-teacher  was  not  expected  to  "teach"  as  we 
understand  the  term;  instead  he  questioned,  quizzed, 
probed  and  tested  the  self -education  of  the  students  be- 
fore him. 

We  all  have  seen  a  high  school  period  conducted  on  no 
very  different  basis.  The  complaints  that  the  elementary 
school  product  does  not  know  how  to  study,  rises  from 
such  a  class  room,  while  the  elementary  school  answer 
that  the  high  school  teacher  does  not  know  how  to  teach 
finds  justification  in  this  same  room.  Both  charges  are 
undoubtedly  founded  on  fact. 

However,  as  a  result  of  personal  visits,  more  and  more 
there  grows  upon  the  high  school  teacher  an  apprecia- 
tion of  the  fact  that  the  mere  presence  of  a  new  pupil 
in  his  room  does  not  justify  his  putting  that  pupil 
at  once  on  the  defensive  to  prove  that  he  should  not 
be  marked  a  failure.  More  and  more  the  high  school 
teacher  becomes  convinced  that  his  duty  is  not  to  pre- 
suppose a  vital  interest,  but  rather  to  create  one,  if  that 
is  possible,  by  his  own  methods  of  daily  instruction. 
Convince  the  high  school  teacher  through  his  required 
visits  that  a  pupil  is  able  to  go  on  and  you  force  him  to 
the  conclusion  that  to  lead  the  pupil  on  is  his  bounden 
duty. 

Following  this  better  knowledge  of  the  subject-matter 
by  the  one,  and  of  the  methods  by  the  other,  comes  a  sym- 
pathetic understanding  of  each  other's  difficulties  that 
makes  for  continuity  in  work  such  as  no  mere  "super- 
vision" (whether  by  superintendent,  principal  or  super- 
visor-specialist)   could  ever  hope  to  secure. 


GENERAL   METHODS  93 

In  summary,  we  may  secure  continuity  in  secondary 
work  by: 

1.  Continuity  of  Plan:   secured  by  having  one  man,  or  one 

group  of  men  in  conference,  prescribe  the  work  in  any 
given  locality,  for  both  junior  and  senior  schools. 

2.  Then  by  building  on  continuity  in  plan:  by  Continuity  of 

Supervision  secured  by  having  as  supervisors  those  who 
have  had  experience  as  class  room  teachers  hi  both 
elementary  and  high  schools. 

3.  Then  building  on  continuity  in  plan  and  supervision:   by 

Continuity  of  Instruction,  secured  by  compulsory  fre- 
quent exchanges  of  visits  (and  so  of  ideas)  by  the  class 
room  teachers  in  the  two  schools. 

In  advance  of  complete  agreement  in  matters  of  ad- 
ministration, a  great  deal  can  be  accomplished  by  the 
teachers  of  the  two  types  of  schools,  if  they  will  get  to- 
gether and  agree  upon  what  is  both  just  and  reasonable 
in  the  matter  of  ninth  year  work. 

In  New  York  City  twenty-seven  junior  high  schools 
were  organized  within  a  very  short  period  of  time,  in 
many  cases  with  a  complete  staff  and  in  other  cases  with- 
out a  corps  of  teachers  prepared  to  conduct  the  courses 
in  special  branches,  such  as  French,  algebra  and  high 
school  science.  While  this  condition  was  temporary  and 
the  teaching  positions  were  quickly  filled  with  those  who 
had  the  requisite  professional  training,  nevertheless,  even 
without  specialists,  the  earnest  and  generous  cooperation 
of  the  New  York  high  school  teachers  accomplished  won- 
ders for  a  better  union  of  the  two  schools.  Committees 
made  up  of  one-half  of  high  school  and  one-half  of  inter- 
mediate school  teachers  handed  in  reports  in  which  there 
was  unanimous  agreement  concerning  the  work  of  the 
ninth  school  year  in  all  the  major  subjects.  Through 
these   agreements,   on   the    one    hand,   the   junior   high 


94  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

school  teachers  know  what  they  are  expected  to 
furnish  (and  what  they  agree  to  furnish)  in  the 
line  of  preparation,  while  on  the  other  hand,  the  high 
school  teachers  know  what  they  may  expect  to  receive 
and  what  they  have  agreed  to  accept  as  satisfactory. 

Where  it  is  possible  for  any  school  district,  large  or 
small,  to  secure  results  such  as  these  from  voluntary  work 
on  the  part  of  its  teachers,  much  that  has  been  suggested 
from  the  standpoint  of  administration  will  be  entirely 
unnecessary. 

It  may  be  that  the  senior  school  will  ultimately  ab- 
sorb the  first  year  of  what  is  now  college  work  and  so 
become  what  may  be  known  as  a  junior  college.  Junior 
colleges  are  already  being  organized  in  several  states, 
and,  while  not  favored  by  some  existing  four  year  col- 
leges, still  appear  to  be  demonstrating  their  fitness  to 
survive  in  the  face  of  opposition. 

The  indications  seem  to  be  that  the  junior  college 
and  the  junior  high  school,  are  innovations  which  meet 
a  well-founded  demand  so  that  they  are  bound  sooner  or 
later  to  be  permanent  parts  of  every  complete  public 
school  system. 

However,  if  the  junior  high  schools  succeed,  their  suc- 
cess will  depend  more  upon  their  improvements  in  gen- 
oral  methods  of  instruction  than  upon  any  other  innova- 
tion no  matter  how  prominent  these  other  factors  may 
seem  to  be. 

QUESTIONS 

1.  What  good  effects  may  result  if  a  pupil  is  convinced  that  a 

subject   of  study  is  of  unquestioned  value  to  himself? 

2.  Do  the  majority  of  my  pupils  study  because  they  want  to, 

or  because  they  have  to? 

3.  In  what  error  may  a  teacher  fall  because  of  the  impor- 

tance to  the  teacher  of  his  specialty'.' 


GENERAL   METHODS  95 

4.  How    did    whippings    for    failure    in    scnool    work    make 

that  work  more  pleasant  to  the  pupil? 

5.  How  can  I  help  my  pupils  to  get  more  satisfaction  (more 

pleasure)  from  studying  my  subject? 

6.  How  may  I  use  my  fellow  teachers  to  help  me  rationalize 

my  work  to  my  pupils? 

7.  What  do  I  understand  by  "being  a  lawyer  in  the  defense  oi 

my  subject  "? 

8.  Why   cannot   I   establish   the  usefulness    (reasonableness) 

of  my  subject  once  for  all? 

9.  Compare  and  contrast  the  possibilities  in  teaching  my  pupils 

to  work  from  a  sense  of  duty,  or  of  teaching  them  to 
work  from  a  sense  of  personal  gain? 

10.  What  are  three  great  necessities  in  securing  continuity  of 

work  between  junior  and  senior  high  schools?    Which  is 
the  most  important  and  why? 

In  the  first  part  of  this  chapter,  speaking  of  rationalizing 
the  subject-matter  to  the  pupils'  minds,  I  have  likened  the 
teacher  to  a  lawyer  defending  his  case  (the  advance  lesson) 
before  a  jury  (of  pupils). 

Now  as  this  book  goes  to  press  a  far  better  picture  has 
suggested  itself  to  me  —  that  of  a  salesman  trying  to  interest 
a  prospective  purchaser. 

Our  junior  high  school  teachers  are,  or  should  be,  good 
salesmen  "selling"'  their  subject-lessons  as  one  might  sell  bonds 
or  insurance  to  serve  as  a  present  investment,  against  a  not 
too  distant  need. 

Our  pupils  are  prospects,  who  have  time  and  study  to 
invest  if  the  advance  lessons  can  be  shown  them  as  a  sufficiently 
alluring  "business  proposition." 

This  in  a  nut-shell  is  the  essence  of  rationalization. 


CHAPTER  VI 
ENGLISH   IN   THE    JUNIOR   HIGH    SCHOOL 

In  every  American  community  where  schools  are  main- 
tained at  the  expense  of  the  taxpayer  there  are  usually 
established  certain  legal  minima  of  instruction  for  each 
grade. 

By  such  regulations  a  reasonable  degree  of  uniformity 
in  the  work  of  each  grade  is  obtained.  The  success  or 
failure  of  the  instructor  and,  what  is  more  important,  the 
success  or  failure  of  the  pupils  is  largely  if  not  wholly 
measured  by  his  conformity  to  the  conventional  (legal I 
requirements. 

The  aims  in  the  school  work  in  English  wherever  they 
appear  in  a  printed  outline  for  town,  city,  county,  or 
state  are  too  often  written  only  in  part  for  the  teacher 
and  pupils  of  the  school  grades  concerned.  Too  often 
these  printed  guides  are  the  work  of  specialists  whose 
pride  of  authorship  leads  them  to  outline  work  entirely 
out  of  proportion  to  the  periods  allotted  their  subject  in 
the  weekly  time  schedule.  Indeed,  the  author,  or  authors, 
of  the  outline  often  seem  more  anxious  to  make  a  good 
showing  on  paper  than  to  furnish  a  working  guide  for 
teacher  and  pupils. 

In  literature  in  each  high  school  grade  the  student 
is  supposed  to  acquire  an  intimate  knowledege  of  a  con- 
siderable list  of  standard  classics  and  something  more 
than  a  casual  acquaintance    with  a  much  longer  list  of 

96 


ENGLISH   IN   THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL         97 

books  to  be  read  and  studied  by  the  pupil  alone  out  of 
school  hours. 

In  Oral  English  the  pupil  must  acquire  not  only  cor- 
rect usage  in  all  matters  of  pronunciation,  idiom  and 
grammatical  form,  but  be  able  to  express  himself  on  a 
variety  of  topics  with  accuracy  and  ease,  at  the  same 
time  showing  an  appreciation  of  some  of  the  fundamentals 
of  dramatic  interpretation. 

In  Written  English  all  the  conventions  of  spelling, 
punctuation  and  form  must  be  memorized  and  unfail- 
ingly employed,  while  in  his  longer  written  efforts  the 
pupil  is  expected  to  appreciate  and  to  employ  unity,  co- 
herence and  style. 

Finally,  added  to  all  that  we  have  enumerated,  a  pupil 
is,  in  most  high  school  communities,  expected  to  be  able 
to  dissect  the  written  thought  he  and  others  have  com- 
posed and  to  label  each  component  part  according  to  a 
preconceived  or  borrowed  terminology.  In  a  word,  while 
only  a  beginner  in  the  study  of  language,  he  is  expected 
to  possess  a  rather  extended  knowledge  of  its  philosophy. 

Many  of  us  who  have  taught  in  the  intermediate 
schools  will  feel  that  the  entire  school  day  with  its 
supplementary  hour  of  home  study  would  scarcely  be 
suffice  to  cover  with  something  approaching  thorough- 
ness the  work  in  English  laid  down  for  any  one  school 
grade. 

The  answer  that  appears  to  one  earnestly  endeavoring 
to  make  every  minute  of  the  time  allotted  to  the  study 
of  English  pay  dividends  in  pupil  improvement  is  to 
select  at  the  outset  certain  major  aims  to  a  degree  pos- 
sible of  accomplishment  by  all  in  the  class,  and  to  keep 
those  aims  always  in  mind  in  all  that  we  attempt  to 
teach. 

For  ourselves  and  our  own  work  we  will  resolve  to 


98  THE  JUNIOR  HIGH   SCHOOL  IDEA 

break  through  the  water-tight  compartments  that  have 
separated  Literature,  Oral  and  Written  Composition  and 
Grammar  and  try  to  make  our  work  in  English  contin- 
ous  and  homogeneous. 

To  do  this  will  make  our  own  work  harder  to  plan  and 
less  easy  to  test.  Moreover,  the  "incidental"  teaching 
of  grammar  in  studying  literature,  or  of  spelling  in  teach- 
ing letter  writing  is  so  easy  of  omission  that  we  may 
find  essentials  being  overlooked  entirely.  Still  if  we 
are  convinced  that  the  continued  class  room  separation 
of  our  work  into  its  dissected  parts  will  hamper  the  har- 
monious development  of  the  pupil  we  ma}7  still  persevere 
in  following  the  harder  course. 

Following  the  plan  we  have  agreed  upon,  of  taking 
our  subject-matter  in  each  division  of  our  school  work 
from  three  fields,  our  work  in  English  Literature  will 
come  in  part  from  what  would  have  been  taught  in  the 
elementary  school,  in  part  from  what  the  senior  high 
school  will  require  and  in  part  from  what  we  feel  it  will 
be  helpful  to  add  from  such  new  fields  as  may  be  useful 
in  themselves. 

There  is  no  escaping  ultimately  the  list  of  readings 
usually  prescribed  for  the  high  schools  by  the  colleges. 
Either  through  state  systems  of  education  or  through 
voluntary  associations  of  colleges  a  definite  series  of 
books  is  named,  from  which  a  certain  number  must  be 
selected  and  read  during  each  of  the  four  high  school 
years.  If  we  are  truly  to  have  forward-looking  schools, 
we  must  build  our  work  so  as  to  cover  the  college  re- 
quirements in  English  literature  even  though  we  may  not 
always  believe  the  choice  of  readings  the  best  that 
could  be  planned  for  our  pupils.  Therefore  since  we  must 
do  this  work  it  is  well  that  we  plan  to  begin  it  very  early 
in  our  junior  high  school  course.     Every  few  years  the 


ENGLISH   IN   THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL        99 

list  of  readings  from  which  selections  must  be  made  is 
revised  or  modified  so  that  it  is  essential  in  planning  the 
first  year  of  junior  high  school  literature  that  this  plan 
will  provide  for  those  seeking  college  entrance,  six  years 
later,  when  they  may  apply  for  admission  to  college. 

The  one  best  list  of  readings  for  American  secondary 
schools  is,  with  hardly  any  doubt,  the  list  published  by 
the  Bureau  of  Education,  Department  of  the  Interior. 
This  list  appears  in  Bulletin  1917.  No.  2  (20  cents  post- 
paid) and  marks  a  distinct  advance  over  any  series  of 
selections  made  before  that  time  —  and  up  to  the  present 
writing,  since  that  time  as  well.  Indeed  this  whole 
bulletin  is  so  valuable  in  the  analysis  that  it  gives  of  the 
entire  work  in  English  in  the  seventh  to  twelfth  school 
years  that  no  teacher  or  supervisor  of  English  can  afford 
to  be  without  it. 

Without  as  yet  discussing  the  actual  books  that  we 
may  read,  let  us  see  how  our  peculiar  junior  high  school 
aims  will  harmonize  with  those  the  senior  school  has 
been  following  as  its  aim  in  literature.  Among  the  most 
widely  accepted  aims  in  secondary  school  literature  may 
be: 

(a)  Ability  to  find  pleasure  in  reading  books  by  the 
better  authors  and  an  increasing  ability  to  distinguish 
what  is  really  good  from  the  trivial  and  weak. 

(h)  Knowledge  of  a  few  of  the  greatest  authors,  their 
lives,  their  chief  works,  and  the  reasons  for  their  im- 
portance in  their  own  age  and  in  ours. 

(c)  Understanding  of  the  leading  features  in  struc- 
ture and  style  of  the  main  literary  types,  such  as  novels, 
dramas,  essays,  lyric  poems. 

(d)  Skill  in  the  following  three  kinds  of  reading  and 
knowledge  of  when  to  use  each: — 

(1)  Cursory  reading,  to  cover  a  great  deal  of  ground, 
getting  quickly  at  essentials. 


100  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

(2)  Careful  reading  to  master  the  book,  with  exact 
understanding  of  its  meaning  and  implications. 

(3)  Consultation,  to  trace  quickly  and  accurately  a 
particular  fact  by  means  of  indexes,  guides  and  reference 
books. 

(e)  The  habit  of  weighing,  line  by  line,  the  passages 
of  especial  significance,  while  reading  other  parts  of  the 
book  but  once. 

(f)  The  power  to  enter  imaginatively  into  the  thought 
of  an  author,  interpreting  his  meaning  in  the  light  of 
one's  own  experience,  and  to  show,  perhaps  by  selecting 
passages  and  reading  them  aloud,  that  the  book  is  a 
source  of  intellectual  enjoyment. 

In  these  comprehensive  statements  of  the  aims  of 
teaching  English  Literature  we  have  no  difficulty  in  dis- 
covering the  work  of  men  whose  one  great  interest  in 
life  is  the  teaching  of  this  most  valuable  heritage.  There 
is  no  question  but  what  we  would  all  be  better  human 
beings  if  in  our  own  selves  we  could  realize  each  of  these 
aims.  Primarily  however,  all  these  worthy  aims,  if 
realized  to  the  fullest  extent,  seem  to  fit  one  for  a  life 
of  enjoyment  rather  than  for  a  life  of  useful  creative 
efforts  —  save  only  the  embryo  author  whose  creative 
effort  may  be  the  production  of  still  more  worthy  liter- 
ature. 

Without  debating  the  extreme  value  of  education  for 
culture,  for  enjoyment,  for  rest  or  recreation,  is  it  pos- 
sible to  select  from  these  aims  those  that  will  be  twice  or 
thrice  valuable  if  acquired  in  our  junior  high  school  work? 

First  of  all  to  know  the  plots  and  the  characters  of 
certain  books  will  be  valuable  if  this  knowledge  secures 
the  pupils'  promotion  to  senior  school  and  to  college. 
This,  however,  would  be  equally  true  if,  for  an  extreme 
example,  the  colleges  could  be  imagined  as  requiring  a 


ENGLISH   IN   THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL      101 

knowledge  of  several  wholly  inconsequential  books.  It 
is  not  the  works  themselves,  but  the  college  sanction 
that  gives  them  their  value.  Therefore  the  aim  of  college 
entrance,  though  most  forceful,  is  at  the  same  time  least 
worthy.  Yet  we  must  set  it  down  as  one  of  our  compel- 
ling aims. 

In  the  second  place,  most  men  of  whatever  profession, 
business  or  trade,  if  they  find  time  for  the  reading  of  clas- 
sic literature  in  addition  to  the  current  professional  or 
trade  literature  that  they  must  read  for  self-preserva- 
tion, read  this  classic  literature  for  relaxation  and  en- 
joyment. For  the  larger  part,  however,  the  great  Amer- 
ican public  seeks  its  relaxation  and  enjoyment  in  reading 
current  fiction  whether  in  book  or  magazine  form.  How- 
ever vulgar  or  ignorant  the  great  mass  of  our  people 
may  be  considered  by  those  who  look  down  from  the 
heights,  nevertheless,  if  we  look  forward  we  must  see  that 
the  chances  are  at  least  one  hundred  to  one  that  our  pupil 
will  not  often  read  classic  literature  for  enjoyment 
after  he  leaves  us.  Nevertheless,  something  more  than  a 
passing  knowledge  of  the  great  classics  of  our  language 
is  necessary  for  one  who  could  read  even  current  litera- 
ture with  the  fullest  enjoyment.  A  true  incident  illus- 
trates our  point. 

A  young  lady  of  refinement,  the  graduate  of  a  highly 
esteemed  finishing  school  for  girls,  was  taken  by  her  es- 
cort to  see  "  Hamlet  "  on  the  stage.  After  the  performance 
she  honestly  and  ingenuously  expressed  as  her  greatest 
pleasure  her  discovery  that  "  Hamlet  "  was  "  so  full  of 
quotations."  This  young  lady  from  her  daily  and  perhaps 
trashy  reading  had  met  with  quotations  from  "  Hamlet 
without  knowing  their  original  source  or  setting  and  so 
had  failed  to  get  the  fullest  enjoyment  from  even  the 
poor  grade  of  literature  she  had  read. 


]02  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

A  related  experience  was  that  of  a  group  of  seventh 
grade  pupils  who  were  asked  to  write  down  what  they 
believed  they  had  gained  of  permanent  value  from  read- 
ing a  series  of  selections  from  Homer's  "  Odyssey."  Im- 
agine the  teacher's  surprise  to  find  a  decided  majority  of 
the  class  in  full  agreement  that  their  greatest  benefit  came 
from  the  better  understanding  that  they  now  had  of  cer- 
tain formerly  puzzling  allusions,  scientific  or  trade  names. 
The  boys  listed  among  other  things.  Ajax  tires,  Achilles 
tendon,  Olympic  games,  Hercules,  Titan  and  other  spark 
plugs,  Siren  whistles,  Vulcan  springs,  Vulcanite,  Vulcan- 
ized rubber. 

While  this  may  at  first  seem  wholly  ludicrous  and  then 
perhaps  pitiable,  finally  we  may  come  to  see  that  after 
all  these  children  may  have  been  right  in  their  estimate 
of  what  the  Odyssey  gave  them  of  most  value.  In  the 
professions,  in  business,  or  in  the  skilled  trades,  as  well  as 
in  current  literature  the  every-day  man  and  woman  is 
expected  to  know  for  purposes  of  the  ordinary  spoken 
and  written  communication  of  ideas,  much  that  comes 
from  the  best  classic  literature,  the  works  of  Homer, 
Shakespeare  and  the  Bible  being  perhaps  the  most  con- 
spicuous examples. 

If  we  select  from  our  required  list,  books  that  will 
give  this  information  necessary  to  a  better  understanding 
of  what  others  may  say  to  us  in  conversation,  in  print 
and  even  on  the  advertising  page,  we  have  to  some  extent 
fitted  our  pupils  for  a  happier  and  more  useful  life  after 
they  have  left  us. 

Let  us  then  add  to  our  first  requirement  (the  books 
that  will  help  our  pupils  to  advance  in  the  school  world) 
a  second  requirement  —  books  that  will  give  our  pupils 
a  better  understanding  of  what  others  may  say  or  write 
to  them,  in  public  or  in  private. 


ENGLISH   IN   THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL       103 

We  will  admit  that  we  have  failed  to  reach  a  very- 
high  moral  plane  in  making  our  selections  for  junior 
high  school  readings  in  English  Literature.  Possibly  we 
may  be  led  to  that  higher  plane  by  learning  what  the 
boys  and  girls  of  our  junior  high  school  years  now  read 
when  they  are  left  wholly  to  themselves  without  let  or 
hindrance.  We  will  agree  that  both  our  boys  and  girls 
read  stories  of  youths  whose  wonderful  adventures  are 
those  which  they  themselves  imagine  they  would  like  to 
experience.  The  hero  or  heroine  is  such  a  one  as  our 
young  reader  longs  to  be  himself,  their  experiences 
are  the  experiences  our  young  readers  would  be  de- 
lighted to  go  through  in  person  if  only  assured  of  an 
equally  happy  conclusion. 

Our  young  reader  is  lifted  out  of  himself,  transfigured 
and  transformed;  he  is  endowed  with  all  the  virtues  dear 
to  a  boy's  heart  and  accomplishes  wonderful  things  for 
himself  and  his  friends,  usually  against  tremendous  odds. 

Our  opposition  as  anxious  parents  to  the  penny  dread- 
ful which  our  young  hopeful  surreptitiously  secures  and 
reads  is  not  so  much  to  any  moral  turpitude  of  the  hero 
who  absorbs  our  son  as  it  is  to  the  false  notion  of  life 
and  its  actual  environment  that  this  most  impossible 
story  may  give  the  young  reader.  In  so  far  as  this  ex- 
citing story  takes  our  young  reader  into  the  realm  of 
pure  impossibility  "it  acts  upon  him  as  docs  the  drug 
upon  the  dope  fiend  whose  glorified  dreams  unfit  him  for 
the  realities  of  life  and  undermine  his  will  to  do  decently 
the  things  the  world  requires  of  him. 

If  in  our  list  of  required  readings  we  art1  able  to  find 
books  whose  heroes  picture  the  kind  of  men  and  women 
we  wish  our  pupils  to  resemble  and  which  they  in  turn 
can  be  led  to  wish  to  imitate,  we  are  on  the  high  road  to 
a  useful  selection  that  can  be  defended  on  the  highesl 


104  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

moral  plane.  Limited  in  age,  physique,  in  finances  and 
even  in  intelligence,  our  pupils  may  still  be  mature, 
strong,  wealthy  and  wise  if  we  can  find  the  books  that 
will  make  the  fitting  personal  appeal.  Without  danger 
or  suffering,  they  may  undergo  attacks  and  hardships 
and  by  living  in  the  story  they  may  experience  vicari- 
ously countless  situations  that  will  tend  to  make  them 
wiser  and  nobler  men  and  women  if  only  our  selection  of 
a  book  is  well  made  and  our  method  of  teaching  it  is 
wisely  ordered. 

Our  third  aim  —  which  now  becomes  our  first  one  in 
the  class  room  —  is  to  give  our  pupils  in  their  reading 
with  us  such  vicarious  experience  as  will  tend  to  make 
them  more  useful,  more  reliable,  more  ambitious,  more 
sane,  more  happy  young  men  and  women. 

We  can  scarcely  attempt  to  discuss  here  the  method  of 
teaching  English  Literature.  So  much  has  been  written 
from  the  standpoint  of  the  student  of  literature  that  any 
repetition  of  it  here  would  be  merely  a  re-statement  of 
what  is  already  known.  From  the  peculiar  standpoint 
of  the  junior  high  school  teacher  it  is,  however,  worth 
our  while  to  recognize  the  extreme  necessity  of  securing 
the  unanimous  and  sincere  agreement  of  each  pupil  in 
our  class  upon  the  value  and  the  desirability  of  the  aims 
we  jointly  pursue  with  them. 

As  we  have  agreed  before  and  may  many  times  re- 
count, each  book  that  we  propose  to  read  comes  up  for 
trial  in  the  mind  of  each  young  and  ignorant  pupil  as 
charged  with  being  a  largely,  if  not  wholly,  useless  and 
unprofitable  proposition.  The  time  we  spend  in 
having  our  selection  vindicated  as  "not  guilty,"  on  this 
charge,  will  be  time  well  spent  no  matter  how  much  time 
and  effort  that  may  require.  We  are  working  together 
in  the  junior  high  school,  not  only  on  things  we  teachers 


ENGLISH   IN   THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL       105 

believe  to  be  worth  while  both  now  and  later  on;  but 
equally  upon  the  things  which  our  pupils  beside  us  believe 
essential  to  their  own  present  success  in  school  and  still 
more  their  ultimate  success  when  school  is  long  gone  by. 

Written  English 

Critics  of  the  schools  have  been  quick  to  pick  out  for 
condemnation  sample  letters  of  school  children  that  con- 
tain misspelled  words  and  faulty  grammar.  Schools  and 
schools  systems  have  often  been  held  up  to  scorn  for 
failure  to  satisfactorily  drill  their  pupils  upon  these  so 
called  fundamentals  in  letter  writing. 

Yet  in  real  life  when  we  get  a  letter,  or  when  we  send 
one,  it  is  the  message  of  the  letter  and  not  its  form  that 
determines  such  a  letter's  genuine  value  to  us  as  individ- 
uals. Even  though  we  may  wince  at  misspelled  words 
we  can  think  of  no  really  serious  and  valuable  human 
document  that  would  have  its  intrinsic  worth  destroyed 
by  faulty  spelling.  We  might  paraphrase  the  line  from 
Burns  in  perfect  agreement  —  "The  form  is  but  the 
guinea  stamp,  the  thought's  the  gold  for  a'  that."  Yet  in 
the  school  world  the  stamp  of  perfect  form  even  on  a 
"spit  ball"  is  often  revered  above  the  rough  and  ill-shaped 
nugget  of  virgin  gold. 

Not  that  we  would  wish  to  appear  as  champions  of 
the  letter  that  murders  the  King's  English  and  carries 
m  phonetic  spelling  system  of  its  own,  but  that  we  wish 
to  let  no  examination  of  the  superficial  faults  of  form, 
blind  us  to  the  fundamental  merits  of  the  letter  as  evi- 
dence of  human  understanding.  The  recognized  errors 
of  our  earlier  writers  of  what  is  now  classic  English 
whether  in  spelling  or  in  punctuation  have  not  appeared 
to  keep  those  contributions  to  literature  from  enduring 


106  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

even  to  this  day.  The  proofreader  and  the  publisher, 
even  now,  keep  no  few  errors  of  the  approved  authors  of 
today  from  the  pages  of  our  more  treasured  books. 

In  the  history  of  any  written  language  we  find  in  its 
infancy  only  that  degree  of  accuracy  in  form  necessary 
to  carry  the  thought,  no  matter  with  what  phonetic 
freedom  the  words  are  spelled;  indeed  at  first  we  know 
there  was  no  spelling  and  even  much  later  there  was  no 
punctuation.  Because  at  the  end  of  centuries  we  have 
worked  out  a  fairly  fixed  set  of  rules  for  the  form  of 
English  writing,  this  is  no  reason  why  in  our  school  work 
we  should  begin  our  work  with  children  where  the  sages 
finally  stopped. 

Even  risking  the  displeasure  of  the  formalist  who  may 
be  high  in  power,  we  must  try  to  teach  our  children  to 
write  something  worthy  of  correct  form,  before  we  lay 
too  great  stress  on  the  form  itself.  Even  at  the  risk 
of  being  labelled  heretics  in  school  work,  we  must  put 
content  above  form  in  written  English.  We  must  keep 
our  perspective  and  not  overlook  the  forest  through  our 
examination  of  some  faulty  trees.  We  must  remember 
that  in  the  world  outside  the  school  a  colorless,  insipid, 
valueless  letter  will  instantly  find  the  trash  basket, 
though  this  letter  be  correct  to  every  last  detail  of 
spelling,  punctuation  and  grammar.  Outside  of  the  class 
room  there  will  be  no  kind  pedagogue  to  mark  a  letter 
"Spelling  100%,  Punctuation  100%,  Grammar  100%>," 
etc.,  etc.  The  reader  alone  will  rate  this  letter  as  a  L  tter 
— and  that  is  the  one  mark  that  counts. 

Really,  the  children,  who  do  not  seem  to  understand 
our  alarm  and  consternation  over  their  errors  in  form, 
may  have  some  intellectual  advantages  over  us,  their 
teachers.  Children  become  vitally  interested  in  correct 
form  only  when  they  feel  they  are  able  to  compose  some- 


ENGLISH   IN   THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL       107 

thing  that  others  besides  themselves  and  their  teachers 
will  really  care  to  read.  Just  as  few  normal  children  are 
greatly  concerned  over  their  personal  appearance  when 
they  go  where  no  one  is  to  see  them,  so  they  are  usually 
not  concerned  over  any  letter  whose  ultimate  resting 
place  is  the  school  waste  paper  pile. 

Indeed  if  we  think  of  the  content  of  any  letter  as  a 
living  boy  or  girl  and  the  formal  elements  as  that  child's 
clothing,  we  can  more  clearly  appreciate  our  pupils' 
natural  point  of  view.  Of  course,  that  point  of  view  may 
be  changed,  too  often  is  changed,  by  years  of  teacher- 
nagging  until  the  youngster's  mind  is  perverted  to  the 
idea  that  the  clothes,  the  form,  are  the  only  things  worth 
while.  These  perverted  minds  may  be,  after  all,  our  big- 
gest problem  in  teaching  our  children  how  to  write.  Too 
often  we  find  our  intermediate  pupils  perfectly  self  sat- 
isfied if  they  laboriously  construct  a  formally  correct 
shell  which  clothes  no  thought.  In  this  formal  writing, 
however,  even  the  perverted  take  no  pleasure.  They 
write,  when  compelled  to  write,  by  the  teacher's  order  and 
sigh  with  relief  when  their  task  is  done. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  not  only  possible,  but  usual, 
for  children  to  really  love  to  write  if  they  are  encour- 
age! to  try  to  put  down  something  that  can  be  shown 
will  really  be  of  interest,  of  honest  interest,  to  some 
reader,  beside  the  teacher.  It  may  be  difficult  to  secure 
any  degree  of  enthusiasm  over  making  correct  clothes 
to  garb  emptiness,  or  at  best  a  scarecrow,  but  if  the 
youngster  knows  that  his  effort  is  going  out  to  be 
seen  of  men.  the  question  of  proper  clothing  becomes  nt 
last  of  real  importance.  Only  in  proportion  :is  there 
is  something  worth  clothing,  do  the  fit  and  style  of  the 
clothes  themselves  become  to  the  pupil  worthy  of 
thoughtful   attention. 


108  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

In  the  earlier  years  of  the  junior  high  school  our  aim 
in  Written  English  is  to  help  the  children  to  write  some- 
thing they  believe  worth  clothing  in  correct  form. 
If  in  the  body  of  their  letter  they  find  a  living  being  that 
really  has  an  appeal  to  some  one  (that  is  not  paid  to  read 
it),  something  that  some  other  person  would  really  like  to 
read,  then  they  at  once  become  concerned  with  clothing 
that  thought  in  its  proper  form.  Here  comes  our  first 
honest  opportunity  as  teachers  to  drill  upon  those  formal 
things  that  in  many  schools  more  often  stifle  thought 
than  help  to  express  it. 

Because  it  is  easier  to  find  subjects  for  compositions 
written  on  general  topics  and  to  a  general  undefined 
public  (or  to  find  topics  interesting  to  the  teacher  alone) 
our  ordinary  choice  of  topics  for  Written  English  pos- 
sesses little  vital  interest  to  the  pupil  who  does  the  writ- 
ing. The  pupil  knows  only  too  well  that  the  general 
public  will  never  see  his  written  effort  —  while  aside 
from  the  stimulus  of  "marks"  there  is  little  enthusiasm 
over  writing  "to  please  the  teacher." 

It  becomes  necessary  then  for  us  to  find  each  time  for 
each  pupil  an  audience  that  will  in  reality  and  in  truth 
get  some  genuine  enjoyment  out  of  reading  the  pupil's 
composition. 

Outside  of  school,  in  the  real  world  of  men  and  people, 
not  far  from  ninety-nine  per  cent  of  us  never  actually 
take  up  pen  and  ink  except  to  write  a  letter  to  a  friend 
There  are,  to  be  sure,  the  occasional  business  letters,  but 
as  a  rule  the  telephone,  a  personal  visit,  or  a  dictated  let- 
ter keep  us  from  pen  and  ink.  We  may  be  reasonably 
sure  that  out  of  a  thousand  of  our  junior  high  school 
pupils  so  few  will  ultimately  be  called  upon  (for  several 
years  at  least)  to  write  other  than  friendly  letters,  that 
we  may  neglect  the  insignificant  minority.    On  the  other 


ENGLISH   IN   THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL       109 

hand,  our  puipls,  if  they  write  from  any  self-originated 
motive,  will  write  to  a  friend  —  usually  a  friend  of  their 
own  age  —  and  a  friend  who  is  too  far  away  to  make 
it  possible  to  substitute  a  call  for  the  letter  in  question. 

The  first  thing  then  in  our  written  work  is  to  find 
for  each  pupil  a  friend  of  the  pupil's  own  age  who  may 
reasonably  be  expected  to  be  delighted  at  receiving  a  let- 
ter from  our  pupil.  However,  our  choice  of  an  audience 
of  one  is  not  quite  as  easy  as  it  appears  if  we  complicate 
this  choice  by  introducing  the  question  of  a  somewhat 
limited  source  of  topics.  At  least  one  in  four  of  our 
pupils'  letters  might  well  be  purely  personal,  even  pri- 
vate letters  —  which  the  teacher  alone  would  read  (in 
confidence)  before  mailing  to  the  distant  friend.  The 
content  of  such  a  personal  and  private  letter  must 
be  largely  a  matter  of  the  pupils'  personal  and  in- 
dividual choice.  However,  for  the  other  three  letters  we 
should  strive  to  make  it  possible  to  select  the  subject  of 
the  letter  from  the  school  work  in  English,  but  if  not 
from  that,  then  from  the  work  in  other  subjects. 

Let  us  suggest  a  topic  that  will  make  the  pupil's  effort 
twice  valuable  —  first  as  an  endeavor  to  write  something 
worth  reading  and  second  as  a  review  of  some  knowledge 
recently  acquired  in  school.  Now  our  choice  of  this  audi- 
ence of  one  becomes  more  difficult,  because  if  we  are  to 
make  our  first  requirement  in  letter  writing  a  genuine  in- 
terest on  the  part  of  the  recipient  of  the  letter  and  then 
we  are  to  make  a  topic  chosen  from  the  school  work-  out- 
second  requirement,  we  must  needs  give  some  little 
thought  to  fitting  together  a  suitable  audience  and  a  suit- 
able topic. 

It  may  be  necessary  for  the  pupil  to  make  first  a  list 
of  friends  to  whom  he  truly  would  like  to  write  and 
after  that  a  much  larger  list  of  subjects  which  may  be 


HO  THE  JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

approved  as  ideas  to  be  developed  in  his  letters.  The 
fitting  of  the  proper  person  and  the  proper  subject  be- 
comes itself  scarcely  less  valuable  educationally  than 
the  actual  writing  of  the  letter  itself. 

So  far  our  emphasis  has  been  laid  upon  making 
our  pupils'  written  work  do  what  similar  written  work 
does  outside  the  school,  this  is,  carry  a  real  message  to 
a  real  person.  We  would  have  practically  every  letter 
serve  a  real  purpose  beyond  that  of  the  treadmill  of 
school  work.  We  would  have  every  letter  sent,  usually 
through  the  mails,  to  some  one  who  will  honestly  be  glad 
to  receive  it  and  who  may  in  some  cases  be  expected  to 
reply. 

Subjects  for  our  pupils'  letters  as  previously  suggested 
should  come  from  the  school  work  they  are  following.  It 
has  been  said  that  no  one  really  understands  a  subject  un- 
til he  tries  to  teach  it.  To  a  certain  extent  then  we  wish 
to  make  our  pupils  teachers  of  their  various  subjects 
through  their  written  work.  May  we  consider  certain 
groups  of  subjects  that  may  be  letter  topics  suitable  for 
our  work. 

If  our  pupil's  correspondent  is  a  boy  or  a  girl  in  gram- 
mar school  we  have  one  point  of  attack;  if  in  high 
school  another;  if  at  work  still  another.  Taking  our 
topics  from  English  first  —  we  may  have  for  each  cor- 
respondent an  opening  letter  on  the  subject  "Why  we 

write  letters  instead  of  compositions  in School." 

Then  we  may  have  a  series  based  on  the  work  in  litera- 
ture in  which  the  pupil  briefly  tells  the  kind  of  a  story  he 
is  studying  and  then  selects  one  incident  for  more  de- 
tailed description  having  as  a  motive  holding  the  inter- 
est of  his  reader-friend  until  the  end. 

Such  a  letter  might  well  be  more  or  less  along  the 
following  lines:  — 


ENGLISH   IN   THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL       HI 

Dear  

Introduction        Have  you  ever  read  the  story  of 

by  ?    It  is  the  story  of  

in    the    time    of    The    hero    is 

and  the  heroine 

Body  The    most    interesting    character    to    me    is 

I  like  him  (her)  because 

Or  To  me  the  most  interesting  (most  exciting, 

most    typical,    saddest,   most   thrilling,    most 
uncertain,    most    joyful)    incident    is    where 

(now  the  body  of  the  letter) . 

Closing  If  you  have  not  read  this  book  you  will  en- 

joy doing  so,  not  only  for  the  story  itself,  but 

for  the  knowledge  it  will  give  you  of 

I  hope  my  account  of has  inter- 
ested you.  Can't  you  find  time  to  write  me 
and  tell  me  what  you  think  of  it? 

Yesterday  I  saw who  asked  for 

you.    I  hope  you  are  succeeding  in 

Give  my  best  regards  to X,  Y, 

and  Z  send  you  their  best  wishes, 
Sincerely, 


According  to  the  occupation  of  the  recipient  of  the  let- 
ter, the  beginning  may  be  varied,  "Have  you  read ?" 

"Before  long  you  will  read  "  "Do  you  remem- 
ber reading  ?" 

A  second  and  more  difficult  series  is  that  of  some  per- 
sonal experience  compared  with  some  incident  in  a  book 
that  is  being  read.    The  series  might  begin: — 

introduction  When   I   was  reading recently  I 

was  reminded  of  an   experience  of  mine   in 


Body  In  the  book  the  hero   and  that  i^ 

how  I  felt  when 

Closing  Have  you  ever  had  such  an  experience? 

Do  you  think  you  would  have  done  the  same 

as when 


112 


THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 


A  third  series  may  begin,  "Would  you  like  to  become 

such  a  character  as in  the  story  of by 

which  I  have  just  read? 

A  jourth  and  more  intimate  letter  —  one  which  may 
have  real  ethical  value  and  which  would  be  directed 
only  to  some  loving  and  sympathetic  friend,  possibly 
a  mother  or  a  father  —  might  begin: — 


Introduction 


Body 


Closing 


Dear  Mother: — 
Do  you  know  that  I  think  I  resemble  toe 

character    of  in   the   book   called 

which   I   am   reading   at   school. 

If  I  do  not  resemble   closely,  at 

least   I   would   like   to   do   so. 
Although   I    am   only   a   schoolboy    (girl)    I 
am  like in  many  ways,  particu- 
larly in 

X   acted  just  as  I  would  have 

done    in    Ins    place,    when    in    the    story   he 


When  I  grow  up  would  you  like  to  have  me 

resemble  X    in    ?     I 

hope  you  would. 

Sincerely, 


A  series  based  on  spelling  could  begin:  — 
My  dear  Henry, 

Do  you  have  any  difficulty  with  spelling?  I  do  and  I 
am  trying  to  overcome  that  difficulty  by  constant  practice. 

The  words  that  trouble  me  most  are  words  like 

The  way  I  am  learning  to  spell  them  correctly  is 

I  wonder  if  there  are  any  misspelled  words  in  this  letter. 
I  hope  not.  When  you  write  tell  me  what  words  bother 
you  most  and  I  won't  care  if  you  don't  get  them  all  right 
so  long  as  I  hear  from  you 

Sincerely, 


ENGLISH   IN   THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL       113 

A  series  based  on  grammar  is  somewhat  far  fetched 
as  a  subject  for  a  series  of  friendly  letters.  It  may  be 
difficult  for  us  to  imagine  any  topics  from  grammar 
that  would  be  of  real  interest  unless  the  writer  were  to 
diagram  some  sentences  and  send  them  as  a  puzzle 
to  his  friend  —  the  diagramed  sentences  being  a  real 
part  of  the  letter  and  carrying  a  real  message.  (We  are 
told  in  most  modern  outlines  to  minimize  diagraming 
yet  so  long  as  we  study  formal  grammar  the  diagram 
will  survive  as  an  aid  to  teaching  that  quite  too  mature 
subject.) 

In  other  subjects  the  teachers  of  those  subjects  may  be 
called  upon  to  furnish  letter  topics  such  as  the  follow- 
ing:— 

Science 

Story  of  an  excursion. 

Description  of  some  animal,  plant,  or  machine. 
Explanation  (semi-scientific)  of  some  common  phenom- 
enon not  usually  understood. 

Civics 

A  letter  of  congratulation  to  some  hero  of  the  police 
or  fire  department  (from  the  daily  paper). 

A  letter  of  appreciation  to  the  local  street  cleaning 
foreman  or  to  some  park  attendant. 

A  letter  to  a  friend  telling  of  the  good  work  of  some 
local  town  or  city  employee. 

A  story  of  some,  recent,  or  approaching,  election  and 
the  writer's  choice  of  candidates  with  the  reasons  for  that 
choice. 

Mathematics 

A  letter  to  a  friend  —  explaining  some  short  cut  in 
Arithmetic. 

Giving  a  puzzle  problem  and  its  solution  ("How  old 
is  Ann?"). 

Outlining  the  high  school  course  in  mathematics  that 
the  writer  expects  to  follow. 


114  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

Telling  what  part  of  Arithmetic,  Geometry,  Algebra, 
the  writer  finds  most  interesting,  most  difficult,  most 
useful. 

History 

The  celebration  of  some  legal  holiday. 

Why  we  honor  the  memory  of 

The  story  of  some  local  landmark. 
My  favorite  American  hero. 

Music 

The  story  of  my  favorite  song. 

What- instrument  I  am  learning  to  play  and  how  I  am 
doing  it. 

Art 

The  picture  I  like  best. 
The  prettiest  design  I  ever  saw. 
When  people  wrote  by  pictures. 

A  description  of  our  dining  room,  parlor,  kitchen  at 
home  (illustrated  by  sketches). 

And  so  the  series  may  be  extended.  As  teachers  we 
must  find  something  that  the  pupil  really  wants  to  write 
about,  something  that  the  reader  will  really  follow 
through  with  interest  and  something  that  will  so  far  as 
possible  serve  double  duty  reviewing  school  work  while 
still  serving  as  the  topic  for  a  genuine,  and  not  stilted, 
letter. 

Outside  of  school  topics  a  series  of  letters  written  to 
the  pupils'  parents  upon  his  choice  of  occupation  will 
well  serve  the  double  purpose  we  have  constantly  in 
view .  The  pupil's  training  in  correct  expression  is 
paralleled  by  information  that  will  be  of  real  value  to 
him  in  selecting  his  life  work. 

The  teacher  of  English  here  again  becomes  some- 
thing more  than  a  critic  of  form,  because  the  content 
itself  is  of  such  vital  importance  to  the  young  writer. 

Such  a  series  may  begin: — 


ENGLISH   IN   THE   JUNIOR   HIGH  •  SCHOOL       115 

Dear  Father: — 

I  am  thinking  seriously  of  learning  to  be  a 

This  occupation  appeals  to  me  for  several  reasons  — 

first second third etc., 

etc. 

If  one  wishes  to  become  successful he  must 

be   naturally    I   am   especially   successful   in 

school   in    (parts   of  subjects)    and   I   enjoy 

studying  about  

To  become  well  trained  as  a  .  .■ the  following 

education  will  be  necessary  for  me  after  I  leave  this  school. 
(Pupil  outlines  in  considerable  detail  the  educational  re- 
quirements.) 

Even  after  all  this  is  done  I  will  need  help  in  securing  the 
right  kind  of  a  position  to  begin  work  and  I  think  that 
will  help  me  to  get  such  a  position  because 


Do  you  think  that  the  occupation   of  a    

would  be  a  good  one  for  me?    Please  tell  me  your  reasons 
for  your  answer. 

Your  loving  son, 

Each  pupil  may  well  select  several  occupations  as  the 
basis  of  a  series  of  letters.  The  letters  thus  composed 
will  interest  the  pupils'  parents  and  equally  the  writer's 
fellow  pupils  if  he  is  willing  to  release  them  for  a  class 
reading.  No  one  will  dispute  the  fact  that  these  letters, 
if  carefully  worked  out,  may  be  of  genuine  help  to  the 
pupil  in  selecting  his  life  work. 

The  criticism  may  be  justly  raised  here  that  while 
some  personal  friend  may  serve  as  an  audience  for 
nearly  all  letters  that  are  written  in  the  general  or  aca- 
demic high  school  course  such  an  audience  will  not  suf- 
fice for  commercial  training  in  so  called  "Business 
English,"  which  involves  the  understanding  and  use  of 
certain  idioms  or  conventions  assumed  to  be  more  or  less 
characteristic  of  business  correspondence. 


116  THE.  JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

Aside  from  the  occasional  ordering  of  a  real  article 
with  real  money  enclosed  —  the  real  business  letter  is 
largely  an  impossibility  for  the  average  pupil  —  and  this 
brings  us  to  another  side  of  our  Written  English  problem. 

In  all  our  effort  to  make  our  letters  real  letters  that  are 
really  sent  to  real  friends  we  should  not  entirely  lose 
sight  of  the  value  of  4imake  believe"  in  some  of  our 
written  work.  Our  emphasis  upon  genuineness  has  been 
necessary  to  counteract  the  all  too  prevalent  tendency 
to  make  all  our  school  writing  artificial  to  a  deadening 
degree. 

As  an  occasional  change  from  our  letters  that  are 
actually  stamped  and  mailed  the  letter  in  which  the 
writer  himself  is  both  author  and  recipient  is  a  welcome 
diversion.  As  an  example  of  this  make-believe  series 
a  thoughtful  teacher  of  Commercial  English  worked  out 
a  plan  that  meets  almost  every  requirement. 

The  pupils  of  this  class  were  first  invited  to  go  into 
business  for  themselves  in  some  town  or  city  outside  of 
Xew  York.  The  choice  of  the  business  itself  was  edu- 
cational and  involved  considerable  class  discussion  (oral 
composition)  as  to  feasible  and  profitable  undertakings. 

Next  came  a  study  of  trade  routes,  rail  and  water 
communication  and  the  character  of  the  population  to 
be  served  —  all  superficial,  possibly  —  but  correlating 
with,  and  giving  a  motive  for  commercial  geography. 

Having  selected  his  business,  his  town,  his  site  for 
store  or  factory,  the  pupil  from  this  new  location  writes 
to  one  or  more  business  firms  in  New  York  to  secure 
prices  on  certain  merchandise  needed  for  the  undertak- 
ing. 

This  serves  as  the  beginning  of  an  interchange  of 
letters  that  keeps  the  pupils'  interest  throughout  a  school 
year.    The  pupil  first  writes  under  his  own  name  asking 


ENGLISH   IN   THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL      117 

for  merchandise  or  credit  and  then  replies  to  these 
letters  under  the  names  of  the  firms  to  which  he  had 
written  for  information.  Writing  again  under  his  own 
name  he  orders  merchandise,  or  perhaps  writes  again 
asking  for  more  favorable  terms.  After  the  merchan- 
dise has  been  finally  ordered  and  shipped  some  is  found 
to  have  been  damaged  in  transit  and  some  appears  to 
be  below  the  specifications.  This  again  involves  an  ex- 
change of  letters  in  which  the  pupil  continues  in  his  dual 
capacity.  New  orders  for  stock  and  new  difficulties  in 
shipment  or  in  payment  seem  to  present  in  succession 
a  series  of  motives  for  letter  writing  that  never  fail,  but 
seem  rather  to  increase  in  interest  as  the  school  year 
goes  by. 

For  certain  work  then,  where  the  age  or  position  of  the 
pupil  makes  the  real  letter  that  is  actually  mailed  an 
impossibility,  the  "make  believe"  series  in  which  the 
pupil  is  both  author  and  audience  has  its  real  place. 
Even  in  letters  of  this  latter  type  the  imitation  of 
reality  must  be  employed  seriously  and  consistently 
or  the  whole  series  falls  flat. 

Corrections 

The  one  part  of  the  old  style  school  composition  most 
hated  by  both  teacher  and  pupil  was  the  inevitable  red- 
pencilling  of  the  finished  copy.  The  conscientious 
teacher  usually  felt  that  he  had  to  wade  through,  often. 
hundreds  of  his  pupils'  collected  compositions  each  week. 
This  ia  indeed  a  hard  and,  usually,  a  thankless  task. 
The  pupil  when  he  secured  once  more  his  now  defaced, 
though  once  (to  him)  attractive  written  effort,  usually 
experienced  'to  a  degree  the  feelings  one  might  have  in 
accepting  the  body  of  a  relative  after  an  autopsy.     To 


118  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

reconstruct  that  mangled  thing  partook  of  all  the  joy 
of  a  post-mortem  operation.  There  is  a  time,  however, 
in  the  growth  of  a  letter  when  any  normal  pupil  will  wel- 
come suggestions  —  that  time  is  when  the  letter  is  grow- 
ing, when  the  ideas  are  only  half  formed,  when  the  clay 
is  still  plastic.  The  pupil  wants  to  write  an  interesting 
and  a  decently  appearing  letter  and  will  welcome,  even 
seek,  the  teacher's  criticisms  at  this  time  if  they  are 
offered  in  no  fault-finding  spirit. 

Therefore  the  letters  should  always  (and  usually  only) 
be  written  in  the  class  room  when  the  teacher  is  free  to 
help.  A  few  blackboard  suggestions  —  "Remember  your 
margins,"  "Consult  the  dictionary  if  uncertain,"  "Make 
your  sentences  short  and  crisp,"  "When  in  doubt  use  an- 
other expression,"  will  do  more  real  good  than  all  the  red 
marks  the  teacher  can  crowd  on  the  paper  when  the  pu- 
pil has  finished. 

The  pupil,  in  the  meanwhile,  writes  what  he  knows  is 
only  his  first  rough  draft  and  to  emphasize  its  temporary 
character  he  writes  in  pencil  usually  and  on  rough,  cheap 
paper  with  little  or  no  care  as  to  appearances,  seeking 
only  to  put  down  some  interesting  truths  in  an  appealing 
way,  as  any  adult  might  sketch  a  letter  later  to  be  trans- 
cribed. 

So  this  first  draft  will  develop.  Erasures  or  crossing- 
out  will  be  the  rule,  until  finally  something  decipherable 
is  left  ready  to  be  dressed  up  in  its  more  pleasing 
clothes.  Such  changes  and  corrections  as  the  teacher 
is  able  to  make  on  the  spot  and  on  the  rough  draft  as  it 
develops  are  the  only  ones  to  be  considered.  The  final 
form  of  the  letter  is  written  on  the  school's  best  paper  in 
ink  with  every  possible  care  as  to  appearance  as  well  as  to 
correctness  in  detail.  No  corrections  by  the  teacher  ap- 
pear on  the  final  copy,  though  letters  if  copied  in  a  slov- 


ENGLISH   IN   THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL      119 

enly  manner  may  be  confiscated  as  too  poor  to  send. 
To  be  sure  if  the  writer  has  made  slight  errors  that  may 
be  corrected  by  unnoticeable  changes,  the  pupil  may  be 
urged  to  make  these  himself,  but  in  general  the  teacher 
merely  acts  as  "military  censor"  for  this  copy,  to  see 
that  it  is  fit  in  appearance  to  be  mailed. 

The  ratings  which  the  teacher  keeps  to  record  the 
progress  of  the  pupil  are  separate  for  content  and  form. 
The  emphasis  at  first  is  almost  wholly  on  the  expression, 
interest  and  truthfulness  of  the  letter.  Only  when  this 
part  of  the  letter  reaches  a  commendatory  rank  does  the 
emphasis  turn  to  matters  of  form.  Following  an  earlier 
simile,  it  is  time  enough  to  think  of  clothes  when  one 
has  something  worth  clothing. 

Oral  English  in  the  Junior  High  School 

In  our  Oral  English  we  are  supposed  by  the  layman 
to  train  our  pupils  first  negatively,  then  positively.  We 
are  supposed  to  banish  forever  from  the  pupil's  vocab- 
ulary the  ungrammatical  and  illiterate  expressions  they 
have  been  using  for  the  larger  fraction  of  their  lifetime. 
Then  we  are  supposed  to  supply  the  pupils  with  a  polite 
and  easy  delivery  of  unquestionable  English.  As 
teachers  we  would  be  unwilling  to  go  on  record  as  saying 
that  this  is  never  dene,  but  we  would  still  be  willing  to 
put  in  writing  our  conviction  that  such  a  change  is  well 
nigh  impossible,  What  we  may  do  is  to  make  a  pupil 
hesitate  before  he  murders  the  King's  English  too  freely 
in  our  presence,  but  "with  the  fellows"  our  potential 
purist  will  still  say,  "I  ain't  got  no,"  or  become  a  social 
outcast. 

Tt  is  for  us  to  devise  some  plan  by  which  our  pupils 
may   become   interested  in   speaking  to   each   other  in 


120  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

correct  form.  For  this  no  better  exercise  has  yet  been 
found  than  "the  class  meeting"  which  is  a  regularly 
scheduled  event  of  each  week's  program.  While  cor- 
rect Oral  English  must  be  the  rule  for  such  a  period 
the  content  of  the  discussions  comes  from  questions  that 
appear  more  or  less  vital  to  the  life  of  the  class  in  school. 
The  first  steps  in  the  class  meeting  period  begin  with  the 
election  of  class  officers  which  must  be  carried  out  with 
the  utmost  formality  under  the  teacher's  guidance.  This 
makes  it  necessary  for  the  teacher  to  be,  as  each  pupil  will 
later  become,  an  expert  parliamentarian.  There  is  no 
question  here  as  to  the  "doing  better"  value  of  this 
work.  Wherever  men  and  women  meet  to  conduct  busi- 
ness as  a  group,  there  must  be  compliance  with  some 
established  rules  of  order. 

When  the  class  officers  are  elected  there  may  then  be 
introduced  any  resolutions  or  motions  on  matters  of 
genuine  class  interest.  Some  matters  for  early  discus- 
sion may  be  the  formation  of  class  athletic  teams,  the 
arranging  of  a  class  excursion,  or  the  discussion  of  some 
question  interesting  the  school  as  a  whole.  It  is  not 
necessary  or  advisable  to  draw  up  a  class  constitution 
until  such  time  as  the  need  for  one  is  felt.  All  that  is 
necessary  is  to  pass  a  rule  that  the  meetings  of  this  class 
shall  be  conducted  according  to  Cushing's  Manual,  Rob- 
erts' Rules  of  Order,  or  some  more  modern  and  not  too 
technical  book  of  parliamentary  practice. 

The  pupils  learn  that  before  there  can  be  any  discus- 
sion of  any  project  there  must  be  a  "question  before  the 
house."  They  learn  to  speak  to  the  question,  or  be  ruled 
out  of  order  and  they  learn  that  correct  and  simple 
English  must  be  used  in  making  motions  and  in  debating 
them.  The  teacher  as  advising  parliamentarian  may  sit 
beside  the  president  and  advise  him  at  the  start.    Later 


ENGLISH   IN   THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL      121 

the  teacher  becomes  merely  an  honorary  member  of  the 
class  ready  to  raise  a  point  of  order  when  that  seems 
necessary,  but  with  no  vote,  though  a  voice  in  all  dis- 
cussions. The  old  difficulty  in  getting  the  pupils  to  talk 
in  the  Oral  English  period  becomes  one  now  of  keeping 
the  pupils  from  talking  too  much.  The  teacher's  one 
chief  concern  is  to  assist  the  class  in  selecting  sensible 
•and  really  worth-while  topics  for  discussion  and  in  see- 
ing that  the  motions  that  are  finally  passed  get  some  re- 
sults in  actual  accomplishment.  This  is  far  different 
from  a  debating  society  where  the  questions  are  wholly 
academic.  What  we  vote  in  our  class  meetings  should  be, 
wherever  possible,  productive  of  genuine,  pertinent 
results. 

It  soon  becomes  necessary  for  the  class  to  enact  cer- 
tain by-laws  to  make  the  discussions  general  and  to  de- 
bar some  of  the  more  loquacious,  or  less  sagacious,  from 
taking  all  the  time  of  the  meeting.  Such  by-laws  may 
limit  the  time  any  one  speaker  may  take  to  two  or  three 
minutes  and  may  empower  the  president  to  call  upon  any 
member  for  an  expression  of  his  opinion  upon  the  ques- 
tion before  the  house  with  his  reasons,  briefly  stated, 
for  holding  that  opinion. 

Pupils  quickly  learn  that  the  only  way  to  be  sure 
of  saying  what  they  mean  is  to  speak  correctly.  The 
double  negative,  the  unfinished  sentence,  mistakes  with 
relative  pronouns,  etc.,  etc.,  disappear  as  the  pupil  is 
shown  by  his  classmates  that  he  is,  through  his  errors, 
often  really  arguing  against  his  own  position. 

In  order  that  all  our  discussions  be  not  impromptu, 
it  is  wise  toward  the  close  of  each  meeting  to  decide 
upon  the  main  question  to  be  discussed  at  the  meeting 
following.  This  gives  the  chance  for  those  most  inter- 
ested to  prepare  their  arguments  in  advance  and  if  we 


122  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

have  the  rule  enabling  the  president  to  call  at  will  upon 
any  member,  it  makes  each  .pupil  give  some  thought 
to  putting  his  sentiments  in  correct  oral  form.  It  may 
be  necessary  for  the  teacher  of  a  sluggish  class  at  times 
to  follow  the  precedent  of  the  political  convention  and 
"plant"  the  maker  and  the  seconder  of  the  question  he 
thinks  it  would  be  well  to  discuss.  The  teacher  may  even 
"plant"  an  argument  here  and  there  for  or  against  the 
question,  but  he  must  do  this  most  tactfully  to  avoid 
any  semblance  to  trying  to  run  the  meeting.  To  make 
these  meetings  a  success  the  most  essential  things  are, 
first,  to  make  the  pupils  realize  that  in  honor  and  truth 
these  meetings  are  the  pupils'  very  own  and,  second,  that 
whatever  the  class  resolves  after  due  deliberation  and 
discussion,  something  will  be  done  about  it. 

As  in  our  discussion  elsewhere  of  Written  English, 
emphasis  is  laid  first  and  foremost  on  having  something 
worth  while  to  say  and  second,  in  saying  it  in  correct 
English.  The  emphasis  upon  the  form,  however,  comes 
earlier  and  is  more  vital  than  in  the  pupil's  written  let- 
ters. 

Under  the  heading  of  Civics  we  shall  further  discuss  the 
possibilities  of  the  class  meeting  for  civic  and  ethical 
training.  It  is  enough  to  call  attention  to  that  possibil- 
ity here.  The  good  teacher  of  English  as  the  good  teacher 
of  any  subject  in  the  junior  high  school  will  always  be 
alert  to  make  his  class  work  do  double  duty  by  teaching 
two  subjects  at  one  and  the  same  time.  In  Oral  English 
the  teacher  concerned  at  heart  with  correct  English  ex- 
pression secures  that  expression  in  part  through  class 
meetings  in  which  subjects  valuable  for  other  reasons 
to  his  fellow  teachers  and  his  school  are  being  discussed. 

In  our  class  meetings  then  we  have  found  an  oppor- 
tunity for  the  pupils  to  practice  good  English  in  speak- 


ENGLISH   IN   THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL      123 

ing  to  each  other.  Something  more  than  an  opportu- 
nity, however,  has  been  found.  We  have  found  a  plan 
by  which  pupils  will  be  not  merely  given  the  opportu- 
nity, but  impelled  by  a  strong  desire  to  speak  to  each 
other  and  to  speak  correctly. 

Practice  in  correct  English,  though  at  this  point  in 
our  study  of  the  junior  high  school  of  major  importance, 
is  by  no  means  the  only  valuable  result.  Indeed  of 
all  the  results  gained  from  the  class  meeting  —  more 
careful  grammar,  a  knowledge  of  the  rules  of  order, 
the  freedom  from  embarrassment  when  on  the  floor  of 
a  meeting,  speaking  briefly  and  to  the  point,  keeping  on 
the  question,  training  in  convincing  others  and  cooper- 
ation with  one's  fellows  for  worthy  ends, —  the  greatest 
values  are  not  formal  but  spiritual.  The  pupil  learns 
politeness,  consideration  and  team  work  as  a  means 
of  securing  greater  happiness  for  himself  and  for  his 
group.  As  he  learns  to  discriminate  between  the  rights 
and  wrongs  of  questions  affecting  his  class,  as  he  learns 
to  appreciate  moral  and  ethical  values  that  to  him  as 
an  individual  were  never  prominent,  our  pupil  is  not 
merely  preparing  for  good  citizenship  —  he  is  living  it. 


QUESTIONS 

English  Literature 

1.  What  aims  are  usually  given  for  the  teaching  of  high  school 

English? 

2.  How  would  I  arrange  these  aims  in  order  of  importance: 

(a)  to  myself  as  a  teacher  of  English? 

(b)  to  my  pupils  as  students  of  English? 

3.  What  reasons,  can  I  give  for  making  vicarious  experience 

the  chief  aim  for  junior  high  school  English  Literature? 

4.  What  is  the  greatest  danger  to  a  pupil  from  reading  over- 

imaginative  stories? 


124  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

5.  How  may  I   combat   the   tendency   of  my  pupil  to  drug 

himself  with  fiction? 

6.  How  may  a  pupil  be  led  toward  mental  maturity  of  judg- 

ment through  a  wise  use  of  required  readings  in  English 
Literature? 

Written  English 

1.  What   is  one  great   reason  why   children  find  it  so  diffi- 

cult to  accept  the  teacher's  emphasis  upon  form'.' 

2.  How  may  I  make  the  work  in  Written  English  an  eagerly 

desired  exercise? 

3.  How  would  I  lead  a  pupil  to  see  that  the  selection  of  his 

audience  is  the  most  important  primary  step  in  writing? 

4.  Who  (or  what)  constitutes  a  genuine  audience  for  a  junior 

high  school  pupil? 

5.  How  can  I  find  such  an  audience  for  each  of  my  pupils? 
6.  How  can  I  use  my  pupil's  ineterest  in  his  written  message 

to  awaken  his  sincere  interest  in  its  form?    • 

7.  Outline  a  plan  for  making  Written  English  do  double  duty 

by  using  subjects  from  each  of  his  four  other  major  lines 
of  study. 

Oral  English 

1.  How  may  I  plan  to  make  pupils  desire  to  talk  to  each  other 

in  correct  English? 

2.  What  technical  knowledge  outside  of  a  knowledge  of  correct 

English  must  I  possess  to  accomplish  this? 

3.  What   may  I  select  for  the  subjects  of  discussion  in  class 

meetings  ? 

4.  Why  is  it   so  essential  that  some   positive  action   results 

from  class  discussion? 

5.  What  gains  aside  from  sains  in  spoken  English  surely  ac- 

company the  class  meeting? 


CHAPTER  VII 
GENERAL  INTRODUCTORY  MATHEMATICS 

Our  junior  high  schools,  we  have  agreed,  should  be 
par  excellence  the  schools  for  sorting  and  classifying 
pupils  according  to  their  promise  of  future  success. 

Instead  of  carrying  all  our  pupils  along  an  identical 
and  unvarying  road  to  the  end  of  the  eighth  school  year 
and  then  saying  —  "Choose  now,  between  these  three  or 
four  types  of  high  school  work,  or  leave  them  all  and  seek 
employment  at  once"  —  we  should  introduce  our  pupils 
gradually  to  the  varying  types  of  work  which  they  may 
later  follow  in  school  or  employment,  so  that  each  pupil 
may  be  led  through  his  own  actual  experience  to  select 
as  wisely  as  his  own  tastes,  his  teachers'  advice  and*  his 
parents'  wishes  make  possible  —  unquestionably  a  far 
superior  selection  than  possible  under  the  "eight  and 
four"  plan  of  former  years.  On  this  basis,  we  can  see 
quite  clearly  what  an  introductory  course  in  mathema- 
tics must  be  and,  equally  too,  what  it  must  not  be. 

Making  our  first  forward  step  by  exclusion  we  see  that 
our  course  in  mathematics  must  not  be  one  designed 
chiefly  for  a  single  type  of  pupil  —  commercial,  techni- 
cal, or  academic.  Our  course  must  not  prescribe  this 
much  old  style  arithmetic  to  be  followed  by  that  much 
old  style  algebra  in  the  high  school  sequence,  but  rather 
our  course  must  be  composed  of  the  elements,  the  very 
simplest  elements  at  first,  of  commercial  arithmetic,  in- 
dustrial arithmetic,  algebra,  geometry  and  the  beginning 

125 


126  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

of  trigonometry,  all  pursued  in  general  upon  a  special 
plan. 

The  question  now  arises  —  Is  this  possible  in  practice, 
no  matter  how  desirable  it  may  be  in  theory? 

Approaching  the  course  of  study  in  mathematics  from 
this  standpoint  we  must  search  for  a  course  which  plans 
co  open  the  eyes  of  all  its  students  to  the  general  field 
of  mathematics  that  lies  just  ahead. 

We  wish  to  lead  our  pupils  to  a  wise  choice  in  their 
next  step.  To  be  sure,  other  things  outside  the  work  in 
Mathematics  may  really  determine  the  pupils'  later 
choice,  yet  that  is  no  reason  for  closing  the  pupils'  work 
in  Mathematics  with  no  glimpse  of  the  fields  ahead  of 
the  Elementary  Arithmetic  text. 

Should  the  pupils  continue  their  education  beyond  the 
eighth  school  year  what  subjects  will  they  study  next? 
The  next  in  prospect  are  Accounting,  Algebra,  Geometry, 
Trigonometry.  Is  it  right  for  us  to  make  the  pupil 
choose  whether  or  not  he  will  enter  these  advanced  sub- 
jects, while  we  forbid  absolutely  any  comprehension  of 
what  these  courses  stand  for  in  school  work? 

If  we  decide  that  it  would  be  highly  desirable  for  a 
pupil  sometime  during  his  seventh,  eighth,  or  ninth,  year 
to  have  at  least  an  introduction  to  these  higher  subjects, 
is  it  feasible  for  us  to  introduce  any  of  these  subjects 
below  the  age  where  tradition  has  decided  the  choice  in 
most  cases  should  be  made? 

In  the  ninth  year.  Accounting,  Algebra  and  in  some 
cases  Geometry  are  now  taught  in  our  high  schools,  but 
that  year  is  too  late  for  a  preliminary  introduction  be- 
cause the  pupil  must  settle  down  to  his  definite  choice  in 
order  to  gain  his  high  school  credits  toward  graduation. 

If.  then,  we  are  to  give  our  pupils  any  introductory 
experience  in  the  advanced  fields,  that  experience  may 


GENERAL   INTRODUCTORY   MATHEMATICS     127 

well  begin  before  the  close  of  his  seventh  school  year. 

Again  the  question  arises,  is  it  possible,  or  practicable 
to  simplify  the  introductory  work  in  these  higher  sub- 
jects to  that  degree  necessary  for  their  earlier  introduc- 
tion and  still  leave  work  enough  to  be  seriously  con- 
sidered introductory  Accounting,  Algebra  and  Geometry? 
Let  us  consider  these  topics  separately. 

Accounting.  Accounting,  including  Bookkeeping, 
which  we  understand  to  be  the  mathematics  of  business 
transactions,  has  for  some  time  been  really  a  large,  pos- 
sibly too  large  a  part  of  our  former  seventh  and  eighth 
year  work.  No  one  will  seriously  dispute  the  possibility 
of  finding  much  "Business  Arithmetic"  that  is  simpler 
than  a  great  deal  of  the  Arithmetic  usually  taught  in 
the  seventh  year  in  the  elementary  school.  This  topic 
need  therefore  give  us  no  concern  from  the  standpoint 
of  difficulty.  Household  accounts  present  Bookkeeping 
in  its  simplest  forms  and  may  be  used  to  lead  up  to 
more  advanced  work  with  Day  Book,  Cash  Book  and 
Ledger.  The  problems  of  the  store,  discounts,  bills,  re- 
ceipts and  invoices  are  now  being  taught  to  the  seventh 
and  eighth  year  pupils  in  the  elementary  school.  Ru- 
dimentary banking,  interest  simple  and  compound,  de- 
posits, checks  and  notes  are  also  taught.  Commercial 
high  school  mathematics  as  taught  in  the  ninth  year 
present  few  difficulties  that  would  forbid  the  introduction 
of  such  few  desirable  topics  as  may  be  now  omitted 
from  the  seventh  and  eighth  year  school  work  provided 
only  that  the  numbers  used,  or  steps  involved,  are  not 
made  unnecessarily  confusing. 

Algebra.  A  great  advance  in  the  treatment  of  \1- 
gebra  and  Geometry  has  been  secured  in  the  syllabi  oub- 
lished  by  the  Regents  of  the  State  of  New  York  in  1918 
over  the  course  some  of  us  pursued  in  our  variou-  schools 


128  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

twenty  or  more  years  earlier,  but  the  progress  as  we  see 
it  lias  been  only  half  far  enough. 

For  the  purpose  of  making  our  points  more  emphatic 
may  we  refer  with  some  frequence  to  the  mathematics 
of  our  own  school  years. 

Algebra  seems  to  present  more  difficulties  than  Ac- 
counting. Our  own  memories  of  our  early  struggle  may 
yet  be  far  from  faint,  but  if  we  will  take  the  time  to 
open  our  old  texts  it  will  not  take  us  long  to  find  out 
why  Algebra  was  a  bar  to  the  progress  of  so  many  in 
our  old  school  days  and  still  may  be  a  destroyer  of  school 
ambitions  for  so  many  today.  As  wre  study  the  situation 
in  review  there  seems  to  be  little,  if  any,  justification 
in  modern  educational  theory  for  the  style  of  treatment 
accorded  Algebra  in  most  of  the  texts  we  teachers  studied 
as  children. 

The  four  processes  (addition,  subtraction,  multipli- 
cation and  division)  were  treated  in  sequence  separately 
and  almost  exhaustively.  One  might  not  learn  to  subtract 
the  simplest  possible  statements  until  he  had  learned  to 
add  almost  any  complicated  series  or  symbols  the  fancy 
could  devise. 

Let  us  take  from  an  old  text-book  still  used  in  many 
high  schools  a  problem  in  addition  that  precedes  any 
work  in  subtraction  — 

m5  -f-  3m4?i  —  6m3?;  -\-  m3n2  -\-  m2n2  —  5m4?? 
7ra3n2  -)-  4m2??2  —  3m??4 

—  2m2n3  —  3mn4  -4-  4n5 
2mn4  +  2n5-|-3m5 

—  ?i5-|-2m5-|-7m4?? 

Does  it  not  seem  ridiculous  that  we  should  have  been 
obliged  to  meet  such  an  obstacle  in  the  first  two  weeks  of 
our  introduction  to  algebra?     What  would  we  think  of 


GENERAL   INTRODUCTORY   MATHEMATICS     129 

a  course  in  arithmetic  that  forbade  our  youngsters  to  sub- 
tract one  from  two  until  they  had  learned  to  add 

536,115 

7,430 

234 

300,022 

270,001 


Yet  this  problem  in  arithmetical  addition  is  almost  an 
exact  parallel  of  the  one  in  algebraic  addition  we  just 
considered  which  precedes  any  work  in  subtraction. 
Straight  through  our  old  texts  and,  indeed,  through  many 
texts  still  used  in  the  opening  year  of  high  schools  runs 
this  same  absurd  treatment.  We  could  duplicate  this 
situation  at  the  end  of  each  fundamental  process. 

In  factoring,  why  in  the  simplest  examples  in  multi- 
plication may  not  a  boy  reverse  the  process  of  multi- 
plication and  learn  the  first  steps  of  factoring  when  the 
process  may  be  more  easily  introduced?  Instead,  we 
find,  before  the  pupil  is  allowed  to  attempt  even  the  fac- 
toring of  x2  -\-  xy,  that  most  text-books  of  high  school 
algebra  require  the  solution  of  examples  in  multiplica- 
tion and  in  division,  each  one  of  which  could  scarcely 
be  worked  out  in  half  an  hour. 

So  we  could  go  from  one  chapter  to  the  next  of  most 
Algebras  finding  that  the  author  seemed  to  attempt 
almost  to  exhaust  the  possibilities  of  one  topic  before 
considering  the  first  steps  of  the  next.  Enough  has  been 
given  to  emphasize  our  contention  that  it  is  fully  as 
much  (if  not  indeed  far  more-)  the  treatment  which  has 
been  followed  rather  than  it  is  the  difficulty  of  the  sub- 
ject of  algebra  that  keeps  many  people  from  believing 
that  any  algebra  can  be  taught  below  the  years  of  high 
school  grade. 


]30  THE   JUNIOR    HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

Geometry.  Taking  geometry,  next,  we  find  a  condi- 
tion in  many  ways  similar  to  that  in  algebra,  yet  not 
on  the  whole  as  complex.  There  does  not  seem  to  be  a 
desire  on  the  part  of  every  author  to  tell  quite  the  last 
word  about  the  triangles,  for  example,  before  mentioning 
a  quadrilateral,  yet  this  is  perhaps  because  we  need  to 
use  quadrilaterals  to  understand  more  about  triangles. 

We  find,  however,  that  how  "to  erect  a  perpendicu- 
lar at  a  given  point  in  a  straight  line"  was  not  planned 
to  be  taught  until  (in  one  text)  the  pupil  had  completed 
sixty- seven  earlier  propositions  and  had  covered  one 
hundred  and  five  pages  of  the  text  including  such  diffi- 
cult demonstrative  theorems  as: — "An  angle  formed 
by  two  secants,  two  tangents,  or  a  tangent  and  a  secant 
intersecting  without  the  circumference,  is  measured  by 
one  half  the  difference  of  the  intercepted  arc." 

Yet  in  the  inventional  geometry  taught  for  several 
years  in  the  eighth  grade  of  many  elementary  schools, 
our  boys  and  girls  have  found  no  difficulty  at  all  in 
learning  to  "  construct  perpendiculars."  This  construc- 
tion problem  our  pupils  have  been  in  the  habit  of  master- 
ing about  two  years  before  they  began  geometry  as  a 
separate  study  and  before  they  have  learned,  as  many  are 
expected  to  do  in  the  first  week  of  high  school  geom- 
etry:—  "If  two  adjacent  angles  are  supplements  to  each 
other,  their  exterior  sides  lie  in  the  same  straight  line." 

In  high  school  geometry  the  difficulty  of  the  work 
for  the  pupil  appears  to  have  been  occasionally  con- 
sidered, just  barely  considered,  but  the  logic  of  the 
arrangement  is  never  lost  sight  of  no  matter  into  what 
educational  absurdities  it  leads  us.  Much  that  may  be 
easily  comprehended  by  any  normal  pupil  in  his  seventh 
year  is  hidden  behind  theorems  so  difficult  as  to  stagger 
many  boys  in  the  second  year  of  high  school,  boys  three 
years  more  advanced. 


GENERAL   INTRODUCTORY   MATHEMATICS      131 

Trigonometry.  Trigonometry  may  seem  to  present 
insuperable  difficulties  and  we  need  not  take  this  topic 
farther  than  to  agree  that  it  is  possible  to  give  any 
eighth  year  boy  an  introductory  idea  of  what  trigonome- 
try does,  or  what  trigonometry  is  used  for,  without  leading 
him  beyond  his  mental  depth.  It  is  wholly  a  matter 
here  of  the  introduction. 

May  we  briefly  summarize  the  situation  thus  far 
disclosed: 

I.  Our  elementary  school  pupils'  capabilities  from  the 
viewpoint  of  mathematics  have  been,  on  the  whole,  un- 
tried in  other  than  one  line  —  arithmetic  of  the  conven- 
tional type.  We  know  or  may  learn,  that  these  pupils  are 
now  unable  to  make  a  reliable  choice.  We  know  further 
that  these  pupils  will  diverge  later  into  three  or  four  main 
groups  —  Academic,  Scientific,  Commercial,  Industrial 
—  that  they  will  of  necessity  be  called  upon  either  to 
leave  school  or  to  select  subjects  of  study  in  mathematics 
while  knowing  scarcely  anything  more  than  the  name  of 
these  subjects  and  we  have  agreed  that  this  situation 
is  not  a  satisfactory  one. 

II.  Wo  have  seen  that  the  subjects  of  next  mathemati- 
cal concern  have  not  been  treated  in  most  texts  in  a  man- 
ner tending  to  make  their  introduction  either  simple, 
attractive,  or  even  to  the  brightest  pupils,  rational.  We 
may  have  been  led  to  see  that  the  first  steps  in  account- 
ing, algebra,  geometry,  are  not  so  inherently  difficult 
of  and  in  themselves,  but  rather  that  it  has  been  the 
total  disregard  of  the  principle  "from  the  simple  to  the 
complex"  as  a  beginner  would  understand  it,  that  has 
made  these  subjects  difficult. 

For  over  six  years  at  the  Speyer  School,  we  have  been 
testing  our  theories  in  the  class  room.  Tn  each  sub-di- 
vision of  general  mathematics  we  have  followed  at  Speyi  r 


132  THE  JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL  IDEA 

a  modified  spiral  treatment  with  very  marked  success. 
Our  unit  is  called  Junior  High  School  Mathematics.  It 
covers  most  of  the  usual  elementary  school  arithmetic 
with  some  omissions  and  some  additions  to  bring  it 
down  to  the  arithmetic  of  today.  At  the  same  time  our 
pupils  begin  a  study  of  the  other  mathematical  sub- 
jects which  more  or  less  parallel  the  work  of  arithmetic. 

In  order  that  all  the  work  in  mathematics  may  be  inter- 
related, we  have  but  one  teacher  for  a  unit  course.  The 
same  teacher  gives  instruction  daily  in  mathematics  to 
the  same  classes,  regardless  of  the  topics  studied. 

Only  by  such  a  plan  —  one  teacher  for  all  topics  — 
can  the  course  we  are  following  be  well  administered. 
The  relative  success  of  the  various  pupils  in  the  topics 
covered  can  only  be  appreciated  by  one  whose  instruc- 
tion covers  the  whole  field. 

In  introductory  Accounting  we  cover  in  our  junior 
high  school  work  much  of  the  usual  seventh  year  ele- 
mentary work.  Some  of  the  examples  and  problems 
usually  found  in  the  seventh  year,  however,  we  postpone 
until  the  eighth  and  ninth  school  years.  Some  of  the 
topics  formerly  studied  in  the  eighth  and  ninth  school 
years  we  place  for  the  first  treatment  (in  simple  form) 
earlier  in  the  course. 

In  Algebra  we  make  a  beginning  so  gradual  that  the 
student  of  arithmetic  scarcely  knows  where  his  arithme- 
tic left  off  and  his  algebra  began.  We  give  arithmeti- 
cal values  to  algebraic  symbols  and  review  our  arith- 
metics as  our  algebra  advances.  We  attempt  to  approach 
algebra  through  the  simplest  formulae  for  which  sym- 
bols are  used  and  by  well  graded  problems  make  each 
step  both  rational  and  easy.  We  endeavor  to  teach  the 
earlier  algebra  (if  not  all  of  this  subject)  from  the  view- 
point of  possible  use  or  at  least  in  a  way  to  forecast  its 
possible  use  to  those  who  are  to  go  farther. 


GENERAL   INTRODUCTORY   MATHEMATICS     133 

We  endeavor  to  see  that  the  algebra  of  our  junior 
high  school  never  becomes  so  enamoured  of  its  abstrac- 
tions that  possible  applications  in  actual  scientific  prac- 
tice can  be  at  any  time  overlooked. 

A  knowledge  of  Geometry  (as  of  algebra)  becomes  a 
part  of  the  pupil's  intellectual  equipment  by  a  gradual 
process  of  infiltration,  rather  than  as  of  old,  by  a  direct 
frontal  attack  in  force. 

Some  time  when  the  pupil  is  studying  arithmetic  the 
work  is  turned  into  a  study  of  dimensions  —  as  it  is  in 
the  elementary  school  course,  but  with  this  difference  that 
in  the  junior  high  school  it  becomes  a  point  of  departure 
into  new  fields,  though  the  pupil  for  weeks  may  not 
realize  it.  Studies  in  square  measure  and  in  cubic 
measure  lead  to  problems  of  construction  involving  the 
compass,  ruler  and,  possibly,  the  protractor.  From  a 
study  of  measured  lines  and  distances,  the  pupil  ad- 
vances to  a  study  of  the  relation  lines  without  measure- 
ments in  feet  and  inches. 

Accompanying  this  work,  or  preceding  it,  in  some 
instances,  comes  a  study  of  geometrical  construction. 
Indeed  we  will  all  be  inclined  to  agree  that  demonstra- 
tive geometry  should  follow,  rather  than  precede,  con- 

Note.  As  a  teacher  of  high  school  physics  I  found  that 
for  years  pupils  who  had  "passed  the  Regents  in  Algebra" 
were  still  as  helpless  as.  Italics  before  such  a  simple  statement, 
as  "power  times  power  distance  equals  weight  times  weighl 
distance"  when  expressed  by  symbols  in :  P  X  PD  =  W  X  WD. 

As  for  the  relations  between  volume  and  pressure  in  gases 
the  pupils  were  simply  floored  by  the  formulas: 

1  V      P1 

Vocp  VxP=  c  Jy-£ 

Bach  year  in  the  work  in  physics  I  spent,  in  the  aggregate, 
two  weeks  teaching  the  most  rudimentary  applied  algebra  to 
a  class  that  had  passed  in  "Algebra  through  quadratics." 


134  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

structive  and  inventional  work,  but  at  no  point  do  we 
divorce  the  earliest  steps  in  geometry  from  the  arithme- 
tic that  is  being  studied  with  it,  so  that  we  have  no  sepa- 
rate inventional  geometry.  In  geometry,  as  in  acount- 
ing  and  algebra,  we  favor  a  modified  spiral  treatment, 
planning  to  review  at  least  once,  practically  all  the  topics 
taken  up  the  first  semester  of  study,  carrying  those  topics 
that  need  farther  treatment  so  far  as  practicable  to  the 
same  degree  of  difficulty  as  now  prescribed  for  high 
school  students.  However,  nowhere  in  our  first  semes- 
ter's work  do  we  entirely  lose  contact  for  any  length  of 
time  with  the  possible  application  of  geometry  in  prob- 
lems of  measurement  and  construction.  The  problems, 
graded  in  difficulty,  accompany  many  propositions,  or 
in  some  cases,  precede  them,  so  that  each  proposition 
and  its  problems  are  integral  parts  of  what  may  be  a 
very  simple  yet  very  real  engineering  project. 

Without  committing  ourselves  too  far  to  the  recap- 
itulation theory,  we  are  at  least  sure  that  the  teaching 
of  geometry  is  immensely  enhanced  by  studying,  as 
we  advance,  the  historical  development  of  the  common 
use  of  geometry  in  the  field  of  engineering.  At  the 
end  of  our  junior  high  school  study  of  geometry,  the 
straight  demonstrative  geometry  predominates,  having 
been  introduced  gradually,  month  by  month.  But  in  our 
junior  high  school  mathematics  we  do  not  attempt  more 
than  half,  possibly  not  more  than  one-third  of  the  propo- 
sitions of  the  so-called  Harvard  list. 

III.  The  arrangement  of  the  various  sub-topics  of  our 
General  Introductory  Mathematics  is  an  important,  but 
not  yet  a  settled  problem.  There  are  many  reasons, 
chiefly  the  reason  of  difficulty  of  subject-matter,  that 
suggest  a  parallel  treatment  as  advisable,  so  for  a  while 
we  alternate  introductory  algebra  and  geometry  and 
each  is  taught  in  connection  with  the  work  in  arithmetic. 


GENERAL   INTRODUCTORY   MATHEMATICS     135 

A  series  of  diagrams  may  best  show  the  three  approxi- 
mate divisions  of  the  five  weekly  recitations  that  we  have 
tried. 


First  Year 
7A  7B 


Second  Year 
SA  8B 


Third  Year 
9A  9B 


Arith.  5 

Geoni.  5 

Alg.  5 

Acct.  5 

Alg.  5 

Geom.  5 

II. 


III. 


Arith.  3. 
Geom.  2. 

Arith.  3. 
Geom.  2 


Acct.  2. 
Alg.  3. . 

Acct.  2 
Alg.  3.. 


Accounting  "| 

or 
Algebra         >  5 

or 
Geometry    J 


Commercial 
Acct.  5 


Academic 
Geom.  5  I  Alg.  5 


After  trying  all  these  combinations,  the  one  designated 
as  III  seems  to  be  the  best  fitted  to  meet  our  needs,  it 
being  remembered  that  the  division  of  the  five  weekly  rec- 
itation periods  indicates  the  relative  daily  emphasis, 
rather  than  any  sharp  day  by  day  differentiation  of  the 
introductory  work  into  wholly  separate  types  of  work 
called  by  separate  names. 


Examinations  and  Credit 

Experiments  have  shown  that  our  brighter  pupils  can 
(and  'lu i  at  Speyer  School  cover  all  the  required  work  in 
arithmetic  and  one  half  year's  work  in  algebra  and 
one  half  year's  work  in  geometry  by  the  completion  of 
their  ninth  school  year.     We  then  send  these  pupils  to 


136  THE  JUNIOR  HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

the  senior  high  school  where  they  sustain  themselves  in 
second  term  algebra  and  second  term  geometry  quite  as 
well  as  their  fellows  from  the  first  year  old  style  high 
school  course. 

As  a  result  of  polling  our  second  year  classes,  we  have 
found  to  our  surprise  that  easily  the  best  liked  subject, 
voted  so  even  by  some  who  failed,  was  Introductory 
Mathematics.  We  consider  such  a  vote  evidence  that 
the  kind  of  introductory  mathematics  just  described  is 
not  the  bug-bear  some  would  have  us  think. 

However,  though  a  high  percentage  of  our  boys  later 
pass  the  uniform  New  York  State  Regents  in  algebra 
and  geometry,  they  do  not,  it  must  be  admitted,  enter 
these  examinations  on  quite  an  equal  footing  with  those 
who  have  taken  the  old  time  college  entrance  courses 
as  given  in  the  senior  high  school.  There  are  some 
examples,  possibly  some  topics,  that  they  find  very 
difficult  —  and  yet  there  are  a  great  number  of  things 
they  know  how  to  do  with  algebra  and  geometry  that 
the  average  high  school  pupil  does  not  know  how  to  do. 
This  skill,  previous  uniform  New  York  State  exami- 
nations have  not  undertaken  to  test. 

Experiment  and  experience  only  will  prove  whether 
our  Speyer  boys  wTho  go  on  to  college  will  use  their 
elementary  algebra  or  geometry  to  better  advantage 
in  the  higher  mathematics  they  may  later  elect,  but  we 
all  will  be  inclined  to  grant  that  the  pupil  who  goes  no 
further  than  high  school  has  positively  gained  some- 
thing more  unquestionably  worth  while  from  our  special 
course  than  he  would  gain  from  a  study  confined  to 
college  preparatory  algebra  under  the  old  intensive  plan. 

Our  two  most  progressive  New  York  City  boys'  high 
schools  —  Stuyvesant  (Scientific-Technical)  and  DeWitt 
Clinton  (General-Academic)  have  already  put  into  oper- 


GENERAL   INTRODUCTORY   MATHEMATICS     137 

ation  a  first  high  school  (ninth  school)  year  of  mathe- 
matics which  serves  as  an  introduction  to  the  whole  field 
of  advanced  work  in  algebra,  geometry  and  trigo- 
nometry. Into  such  a  course  our  pupils  naturally  pass 
easily  and  with  full  credit.  The  tendency  in  secondary 
school  mathematics  appears  to  be  wholly  toward  the 
introductory  course  in  mathematics  which  we  have  been 
following  at  Speyer  School. 

Naturally,  believing  in  our  work,  we  are  anxious  to 
see  modifications  in  our  second  year  high  school  work 
that  will  permit  us  to  show  wherein  our  pupils  excel 
those  who  follow  the  older  course,  including  such  prob- 
lems as  involve  the  reading  of  graphs  or  the  solving  of 
formulas. 

In  a  word  as  a  result  of  study  and  experiment,  we  have 
become  convinced: — 

1 .  That  much  in  mathematics  that  has  been  considered 
too  difficult  for  students  of  junior  high  schools  has  been 
made  so  by  its  old  style  treatment. 

2.  That  there  is  much  in  accounting,  geometry,  alge- 
bra and  trigonometry  that  is  no  harder  than  some  of  the 
arithmetic  formerly  prescribed  for  the  seventh  and  eighth 
years. 

3.  That  a  modified  spiral  treatment  such  as  we  are  try- 
ing, with  sequence  still  open  to  experiment,  is  decidedly 
worth  while. 

4.  That  we  should  omit  to  a  large  degree,  if  not  wholly, 
work  that  seems  to  have  won  a  place  simply  because  it 
was  hard  and  substitute  for  some  of  this,  work  that  is 
of  real  value  in  other  lines  of  scientific  endeavor. 

5.  That,  while  we  are  experimenting,  some  opt  ion- 
should  be  "liven  the  junior  high  school  to  gain  college 
entrance  credits  for  work  that  is  at  least  of  as  great,  if 
not  indeed  of  far  greater  value  than  that  in  which  high 


138  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

school  pupils  are  (or  have  been  until  recently)  tested  by 
uniform  college  entrance  examinations. 


QUESTIONS 

1.  What    difficulties   usually   attend   the   pupil's   selection   of 

courses  in  senior  high  school  mathematics? 

2.  To  what  extent  is  the  pupil's  difficulty  in  doing  creditable 

work  in  senior  high  school  mathematics  due  to  the  in- 
herent difficulty  of  the  subject  and  to  what  extent  to  the 
customary  method  of  its  presentation? 

3.  Enlarge  upon  the  difficulties  that  depend  more  upon  method 

than  upon  subject-matter  in  accounting,  algebra,  geom- 
etry, trigonometry? 

4.  Outline  a  plan  for  carrying  General  Introductory  Mathe- 

matics as  a  unified  two  year  course  with  a  separation 
of  courses  for  the  third  year. 

5.  Why  is  it  necessary  to  have  one  and  the  same  teacher  cover 

all  the  subdivisions  of  the  mathematical  field  for  each 
separate  class  of  junior  high  school  pupils'? 

6.  What  advantages  may  such  a  general  introductory  course 

give  its  pupils  over  the  old  sequence  of  subjects  in  mathe- 
matics ? 


CHAPTER   VIII 
INTRODUCTORY  FOREIGN   LANGUAGE 

No  experimental  school  whether  elementary,  second- 
ary or  of  college  rank  can  be  wholly  free  to  test  out 
theories  that,  so  far  at  least  as  the  premises  are  con- 
cerned, may  seem  worthy. 

For  an  experimental  junior  high  school  the  field  is 
twice  limited  because  whatever  liberties  we  may  take 
with  the  methods  of  instruction,  we  are  still  confined 
to  such  subject-matter  as  the  senior  high  schools  and  the 
colleges  demand.  Not  until  we  have  an  entire  school 
sequence  from  kindergarten  to  university  that  is  free  from 
outside  dictation  can  many  worth-while  theories  be  given 
a  fair  trial. 

Of  no  group  of  subjects  is  this  more  true  than  of  the 
so-called  Foreign  Language  Group  —  whether  they  be 
"dead'  languages  like  Greek  and  Latin,  or  "modern" 
languages  like  French,  German  and  Spanish. 

The  one  great  experiment  awaiting  trial  is  the  exper- 
iment of  sending  a  group  of  pupils  through  high  school 
and  college  with  no  training  in  Foreign  Language  at  all. 
This  proposal  is  not,  as  may  scorn,  an  attack  on  all 
foreign  language  study,  but  rather  a  proposal  to  get  down 
to  some  sound  basis  for  evaluating  foreign  language 
work. 

Tf  two  groups  of  one  hundred  pupils  as  near  alike  in 
native  ability  as  psychological  tests  could  estimate  them, 
were  started  in  the  junior  high  school  at  the  same  time 

139 


140  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

toward  that  distant  goal,  college  graduation,  along  two 
separate  paths  —  the  one  taking  Greek  or  Latin  and 
French  or  German  or  Spanish  (two  foreign  languages 
at  least)  and  the  other  taking  no  foreign  languages  at  all, 
we  might  after  ten  years,  or  perhaps  earlier,  have  at 
least  some  slight  objective  basis  for  measuring  the  com- 
parative educational  value  of  the  two  types  of  work. 

To  be  still  more  worthy  of  acceptance,  our  data  should 
be  checked  up  some  ten  years  later  still  by  the  successes 
or  failures  which  marked  the  careers  of  our  two  hundred 
pupils  when  they  were  settled  in  their  life  work. 

Having  no  such  experiment  as  a  present  probability, 
we  are  left  almost  wholly  at  sea  in  the  matter  of  eval- 
uating foreign  language  study,  especially  the  value  of 
such  study  when  it  receives  no  conscious  use  other  than 
that  of  permitting  college  entrance  and  helping  to  se- 
cure a  college  or  university  degree. 

There  was  a  time  when  the  study  of  a  foreign  lan- 
guage, especially  the  study  of  Latin  marked  a  man  as 
"educated"  and  a  probable  leader.  To  a  certain  extent 
there  is  still  more  or  less  social  deference  paid  the  man 
who  has  passed  through  six  or  eight  years  of  Latin  and 
five  or  six  years  of  Greek. 

However,  as  in  these  later  days,  more  and  more  men  of 
national  prominence  and  great  national  service  reach 
such  heights  without  the  help  of  the  classics,  the  po- 
sition claimed  for  language  as  a  sine  qua  non  in  higher 
education  has  been  greatly  weakened.  With  the  modern 
emphasis  on  what  a  man  can  do  rather  than  on  what  he 
has  studied,  even  the  social  distinction  conferred  by  a 
study  of  "the  classics"  has  been  lessened,  though  by  no 
means  obliterated. 

Latin  has,  however,  furnished  and  may  still  furnish, 
one  wholly  undebatable  service  in  weeding  out  those 


INTRODUCTORY   FOREIGN   LANGUAGE  141 

would-be  students  who  have  no  stomach  for  disagree- 
able tasks.  If  one  of  our  best  engineering  colleges  once 
required  Latin  for  admission  (though  it  never  teaches 
a  word  of  Latin  in  its  halls)  it  may  have  done  so  be- 
cause those  who  have  studied  Latin  have  given  some  in- 
dication of  being  hard-working  students.  The  boy  who 
has  "passed"  in  Cicero's  Orations  and  Virgil's  Aeneid 
may  be  truly  considered  as  showing  some  promise  of 
being  able  to  enter  upon  the  equally  difficult  studies  of 
the  engineer. 

It  may,  however,  happen  in  the  not  far  distant  future 
that  even  this  ultra  conservative  school  of  engineering 
will  find  the  modern  tests  for  general  intelligence  a  better 
means  of  selecting  its  future  pupils  than  by  the  elimi- 
nating power  of  Latin  which  it  so  recently  employed. 

However,  in  our  present  conception  of  the  duties  of 
our  free  schools  and  colleges  there  has  been  a  great 
change  from  the  conceptions  held  even  a  generation  ago. 

Once,  we  were  to  select  and  train  leaders.  Those  who 
failed  were  given  scant  consideration.  The  failing  pupils 
merely  classified  themselves  as  those  unfitted  for  the 
higher  fields  of  learning. 

Today  we  are  coming  to  believe  that  it  is  the  duty  of 
our  free  high  schools  and  even  of  our,  colleges  to  provide 
profitable  instruction  for  all  who  have  the  time,  money 
and  ambition  to  continue  their  education  whatever  be 
the  mental  make-up  of  the  applicants. 

Once  pupils  failed  if  they  found  the  work  too  difficult. 
Today  schools  fail  if  they  propose  work  which  their 
pupils  cannot  do.  More  and  more  the  conviction  is 
spreading  that  society  is  morally  and  economically  bound 
to  offer  education  to  each  growing  youth  according  to  his 
youthful  capacity,  just  as  society  expects  to  draw  ser- 
vice from  each  mature  man  according  to  his  mature 
strength. 


142  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

If  the  earlier  centuries  were  chiefly  concerned  with  the 
higher  education  of  their  leaders,  this  century  is  chiefly 
concerned  with  the  higher  education  of  its  masses.  How- 
ever, it  remains  for  the  educational  leaders  of  this  gen- 
eration and  the  next  to  discover  ways  and  means  of  pro- 
viding education  for  each  according  to  his  capacity. 

The  error  we  seem  to  be  making  is  that  of  supposing 
that  the  subjects  of  study  once  used  to  select  and  train 
leaders  are  still  the  subjects  which  must  be  studied  by 
all  who  would  prolong  their  education  beyond  the  gram- 
mar school  period. 

All  this  is  particularly  pertinent  in  any  discussion  of 
foreign  language  study.  Greek  and  Latin  may  still  be 
studied  with  profit  it  may  develop,  but  Greek  and  Latin 
may  no  longer  be  employed  chiefly,  if  not  solely,  as  a 
barrier  to  the  higher  education  of  those  who  cannot  sur- 
vive such  tests  as  these  foreign  languages  may  offer.  Pu- 
pils may  still  be  kept  from  promotion  in  Greek  and 
Latin  if  they  evince  no  ability  to  learn  these  languages, 
but  only  from  promotion  in  Greek  and  Latin  not  from 
all  promotion  as  heretofore. 

The  necessity  of  abandoning  the  use  of  Latin  and 
Greek  for  their  selective  value  becomes  more  and  more 
recognized  by  students  of  education  who  have  found  that 
men  have  achieved  marked  success  in  other  lines  who 
were  practically  devoid  of  any  "language  sense"  capable 
of  even  average  development. 

More  and  more  it  is  being  disclosed  that  an  inability 
to  learn  a  "dead"  language  is  not  of  and  by  itself  any 
significant  barrier  to  marked  success  in  other  unrelated 
lines  of  endeavor. 

The  same  situation  exists  when  we  consider  the  study 
of  modern  languages,  though  these  studies  may  never 
be  consciously  employed  as  barriers  to  all  educational 


INTRODUCTORY   FOREIGN  LANGUAGE  143 

advancement  in  the  same  way  that  the  "dead"  languages 
have  been. 

So  far  as  foreign  languages  in  the  junior  high  school 
are  concerned,  we  must,  before  we  decide  to  teach  them 
at  all,  make  up  our  minds  that  if  we  teach  them  they 
must  be  suited  to  the  capacities  of  our  pupils  and  fed 
to  them  only  at  the  rate  at  which  each  pupil  may  mas- 
ticate and  absorb  them  without  danger  of  mental  indi- 
gestion. 

And  now  having  gotten  this  far,  we  come  face  to  face 
with  an  unavoidable  compulsion.  We  must  teach  for- 
eign languages  in  the  junior  high  school  because  the 
senior  high  school  (in  turn  dominated  by  the  college) 
requires  it.  Even  if  we  were  convinced  that  foreign  lan- 
guage study  were  less  profitable  than  other  work  that 
might  replace  it,  we  would  be  causing  our  pupils  to 
suffer  a  still  greater  loss  if  we  refused  to  give  them  work 
in  a  foreign  language  as  one  of  the  passports  required 
for  continuing  their  education. 

The  time  may  come  when  our  American  colleges  will 
accept  the  position  so  strongly  taken  by  one  of  our 
foremost  professors  of  Modern  Language,  Dr.  Calvin 
Thomas  of  Columbia  University.  Only  a  short  time  be- 
fore his  death,  Professor  Thomas  contributed  an  article 
to  a  round  table  discussion  on  Why  Pupils  Should  Study 
Foreign  Language.  Most  of  the  professors  concerned 
themselves  with  arguments  for  the  study  of  their  spe- 
cialty. Professor  Thomas,  however,  said  in  effect,  "Why 
should  a  pupil  study  a  foreign  language?  Ask  the  pupil 
himself  to  get  the  answer.  Test  his  answer  and  make 
sure  he  can  uphold  his  position.  Too  many  boys  and  men 
are  studying  foreign  languages  because  of  misconceptions, 
or  because  it  may  be  the  style.  The  one  valid  argument 
for  admitting  a  young  man  to  the  study  of  a  foreign 


144  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

language  is  evidence  that  he  will  use  the  language  after- 
he  leaves  college  because  he  needs  it  to  secure  certain 
definite  and  worthy  aims." 

The  time  may  come,  and  many  believe  it  must  come, 
when  youths  in  the  junior  high  school  will  be  brought 
before  the  court  to  show  cause  why  they  should  be  per- 
mitted to  attempt  the  study  of  a  foreign  language  through 
the  use  they  will  make  of  it  as  a  language  and  not  as  a 
ticket  of  admission  to  the  senior  high  school  or  to  the 
college. 

However,  until  all  college  professors  take  this  point  of 
view,  we  in  the  junior  high  school  must  consider  that  we 
have  no  escape,  even  did  we  desire  it,  from  the  necessity 
of  providing  foreign  language  instruction  for  at  least 
such  of  our  pupils  as  show  promise  or  even  show  pur- 
pose of  entering  higher  institutions  of  learning. 

Surely  if  a  foreign  language  is  to  be  taught  at  all 
the  junior  high  school  is  the  place  to  begin  it.  It  has 
long  been  known  that  children  learn  the  intricacies  of 
a  foreign  spoken  tongue  far  more  easily  than  do  adults, 
just  as  it  is  equally  a  matter  of  experience  that  most 
adults  learning  a  new  language  are  frequently  unable  to 
speak  it  without  a  brogue  or  accent,  however  perfectly 
they  may  learn  to  write  it. 

From  this  situation  which  we  might  call  a  language 
axiom  we  can  gain  some  idea  of  the  approach  which  we 
should  select  for  the  modern  languages  at  least.  Since 
childhood  is  the  one  best  time  for  beginning  the  study  of 
a  new  language,  the  earlier  we  begin  that  work  in  our 
junior  high  school  the  better  it  will  be  for  our  pupils' 
ultimate  success. 

However,  having  a  second  time  reached  a  point  of 
agreement  upon  what  is  educationally  reasonable,  we  are 
again  confronted  with  a  condition  that  may  force  us 


INTRODUCTORY  FOREIGN  LANGUAGE    145 

to  abandon  that  which  is  reasonable  in  theory  to  accept 
perforce  that  which  is  reasonable  under  existing  con- 
ditions. 

An  experiment  worked  out  at  Speyer  School  from  1916 
to  1918  will  illustrate  this  point. 

All  things  being  considered,  it  was  decided  that  since 
practically  all  pupils  who  would  continue  their  edu- 
cation must  sooner  or  later  have  some  foreign  language, 
the  study  of  Latin,  as  a  basic  tongue  for  much  of  English 
and  the  Romance  languages,  might  well  be  undertaken 
first.  It  was  further  decided  that  all  our  pupils  should 
first  study  the  new  language  as  a  child  learning  the  lan- 
guage should  study  it,  by  the  natural  or  direct  method, 
rather  than  from  the  artificial  approach  through  grammar 
rules  so  largely  followed  by  adults  in  the  higher  schools. 

Consequently  there  was  planned  a  course  in  Latin 
which  began  in  the  first  junior  high  school  year  by 
using  Latin  as  a  spoken  language  and  adding  only  such 
rudimentary  grammar  as  might  be  unavoidable.  The 
teacher  and  the  boys  used  only  Latin  as  a  means  of  con- 
versation in  the  class  room,  not  because  this  in  itself  was 
valuable,  but  as  a  device  to  add  interest.  They  learned 
to  read  and  write  Latin  (simple  Latin  of  course)  much 
in  the  way  they  had  learned  to  read  and  write  their  own 
English  tongue,  without  much  realization  of  the  rules 
of  grammar,  certainly  with  little  of  the  point  of  view 
which  considers  Latin  as  all  grammar. 

In  the  class  room  among  other  things  attempted  great 
emphasis  was  laid  upon  the  English  words  with  Latin 
ancestry  and  no  new  Latin  word  was  taken  up  without 
a  search  for  possible  English  descendants.  Taking,  for 
example,  the  Latin  scribo  —  I  write,  the  pupils  were 
required  to  bring  in  lists  of  English  words  that  had  been 
derived  from  some  form  of  this  verb's  Latin  root,  as 


146  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

scribe,  inscribe,  script,  conscript,  conscription,  etc,  etc. 
In  this  way  the  Latin  was  made  to  contribute  most  de- 
cidedly to  a  better  English  vocabulary  and  the  boys 
were  learning  more  about  English  while  studying  Latin. 
Gradually  more  and  more  Latin  grammar  was  introduced 
until  a  fair  grammatical  understanding  was  thought  to 
have  been  secured.  Finally  the  boys  were  promoted  to 
the  tenth  school  year,  or  second  high  school  year,  in  an 
old  time  four  year  high  school. 

It  was  then  that  trouble  began.  Our  boys  were  at 
once  reported  as  being  wholly  unable  to  do  the  work 
in  Latin  required  in  the  senior  high  school.  They  were 
not  only  failures,  but  worse  than  failures,  because  they 
had  a  totally  wrong  point  of  view.  These  boys  insisted 
upon  considering  Latin  as  something  natural  to  be 
spoken,  read,  or  written  as  a  living  language,  instead  of 
regarding  it  as  an  intricate  puzzle  to  be  worked  out  and 
accounted  for  grammatically  word  by  word.  The  boys  in 
turn  complained  that  their  teachers  cared  little  or  nothing 
about  the  content  of  what  was  written  or  read,  but  only 
about  the  reasons  in  the  grammar  justifying  the  use  of 
a  certain  word  in  a  certain  sentence  according  to  its 
gender,  number  and  case,  if  a  noun,  or  its  voice,  mood, 
tense,  person  and  number  if  a  verb. 

Naturally  two  such  opposing  points  of  view  could  not 
endure  in  the  same  class  room  and  naturally  our  Speyer 
boys  had  to  begin  Latin  all  over  again,  or  else  join  special 
coaching  classes  designated  to  eradicate  their  earlier 
notions  of  Latin  study. 

It  has  never  been  settled  to  our  own  satisfaction 
whether  or  not  this  natural  and  direct  approach  to  Latin 
would  in  the  end  —  were  it  continued  for  three  years 
more  —  make  better  or  poorer  students  of  Latin  and  of 
English  than  does  the  established  plan.    We  have,  how- 


INTRODUCTORY   FOREIGN   LANGUAGE  147 

ever,  been  unquestionably  convinced  that  under  present 
conditions  a  direct  method  approach  to  old  time  Latin 
instruction  is  an  almost  impossible  undertaking. 

Returning  once  more  to  the  study  of  the  theory,  there 
is  much  to  be  said  for  Latin  as  the  introductory  language 
for  the  junior  high  school.  In  addition  to  its  possible  use 
as  Latin,  it  may  have  a  marked  influence  upon  the  pu- 
pils' written  and  spoken  English.  The  very  use  of  a 
Latin  vocabulary  involves  a  considerable  study  of  Eng- 
lish synonyms  and  leads  a  pupil  to  be  more  careful  in  his 
use  of  English  words  in  writing  or  speaking  to  convey 
that  certain  thought  or  shade  of  meaning  that  he  has 
in  his  mind.  Latin  will  help  him  frequently  also  to  find 
the  true  meaning  of  an  English  word  about  which  he  is 
in  doubt.  Therefore  because  of  its  general  possibilities 
as  a  help  to  English  writing,  reading  and  speaking,  as 
a  help  to  the  later  possible  study  of  French,  Italian  or 
Spanish,  as  a  help  to  the  understanding  of  technical  terms 
in  the  professions  and  last  but  not  least,  as  a  very  prac- 
tical help  in  college  entrance,  we  may  decide  that  Latin 
is  our  best  introductory  language  for  junior  high  school 
work. 

However,  even  here  we  again  meet  practical  obstacles 
that  may  again  keep  us  from  what  we  believe  is  best, 
because  we  must  adjust  ourselves  to  conditions  as  we 
find  them. 

In  the  first  place  as  we  have  seen,  the  approach  to 
Latin  must  be  the  old  formal  grammatical,  artificial  ap- 
proach which  is  least  well  suited  to  our  junior  high  school 
pupils'  age.  In  the  second  place,  because  we  are  a  junior 
high  school  and  our  teachers  as  yet  are  generally  paid 
loss  than  senior  high  school  teachers,  we  may  find  (as 
many  have  found)  that  we  cannot  secure  teachers  of 
Latin  sufficiently  well  qualified  to  undertake  this  work. 


148  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL  IDEA 

Teachers  of  Latin,  skilled  teachers,  are  apt  to  be  at- 
tracted only  to  senior  high  school,  or  college,  work,  though 
if  ever  skill  in  Latin  teaching  is  needed,  it  is  needed  in 
teaching  beginning  Latin.  No  other  subject  seems  so 
much  affected  by  the  first  year's  work. 

So  it  may  be,  despite  our  decision  that  introductory 
Latin  would  be  desirable  —  especially  a  modified  Eng- 
lish-Latin —  as  an  introduction  to  foreign  language  study, 
we  may  nevertheless  have  to  abandon  its  employment 
until  the  situation  of  methods  and  salaries  has  grown 
more  favorable. 

We  may  then  have  to  make  our  selection,  since  we  seem 
forced  to  select  some  foreign  language,  from  French, 
German,  Italian  and  Spanish,  with  the  probability  that 
not  more  than  one  in  a  hundred  of  our  pupils  will  use 
any  one  of  these  living  languages  except  to  gain  high 
school  graduation  or  a  college  degree. 

Our  choice  of  a  modern  foreign  language  then  may 
have  to  be  made  upon  the  best  basis  possible  —  even 
where  some  of  our  reasons  may  seem  to  be  (and  may 
really  be)   indefensible  upon  truly  educational  grounds. 

Taking  our  pupils  as  a  whole  we  may  find  it  best 
to  select  that  one  foreign  language  that  promises  to  serve 
them  best  by  its  use  in  one  of  the  following  ways: 

(1)  As  a  probable  aid  to  their  material  business  or 
professional  success. 

(2)  As  a  ticket  of  admission  to  high  school  and  col- 
lege. 

(3)  As  a  means  (under  a  well-trained  teacher)  of 
learning  how  a  foreign  language  should  be  studied. 

(4)  As  a  source  of  individual  culture  and  refinement. 

(5)  As  an  introduction  to  a  people  that  it  would  be 
well  to  know  and  appreciate  more  intimately. 

(6)  As  an  introduction  to  a  literature  that  might  well 
be  read  and  enjoyed  in  the  original. 


INTRODUCTORY  FOREIGN  LANGUAGE    149 

Each  school  considering  its  own  school  population,  its 
pupils'  probable  occupations,  its  senior  high  school  limi- 
tations, will  have  to  make  its  own  decision.  Yet  nothing 
seems  more  essential  than  that  each  junior  high  school 
(unless  it  have  at  least  a  thousand  pupils)  decides  upon 
one  language  that  on  the  whole,  best  meets  the  six 
possible  uses  we  have  enumerated. 

If  we  are  to  allow  one  class  to  learn  Latin,  one  German, 
and  one  French,  we  are,  as  we  shall  speedily  see,  soon 
to  run  into  a  tangle  that  will  make  it  in  every  way 
worse  for  a  pupil  to  study  a  language  of  his  own  selec- 
tion, rather  than  one  we  might  have  chosen  for  him. 

If  our  pupils  are  separated  into  small  groups,  each 
taking  a  different  language,  we  shall  be  apt  to  find  that 
the  usual  removals  from  town  and  the  sudden  calls 
to  employment  that  cut  the  class  numbers  down  as  the 
grades  advance,  will  soon  result  in  a  class  too  small  to 
permit  us  to  employ  a  teacher  to  instruct  it.  Equally 
serious  will  be  the  influence  of  small  language  groups 
upon  our  entire  school  plan  of  homogeneous  speed-group- 
ing, planned  to  advance  each  pupil  according  to  his  abil- 
ity, for  our  speed-group  plan  fails  if  we  must  put  into  one 
foreign  language  class  the  speediest  with  the  slowest. 
Finally,  if  we  are  allowed  to  have  but  one  teacher  for 
each  language,  or  one  for  two  languages,  all  language 
instruction  must  wholly  stop  if  that  one  teacher  is  ill  or 
called  away. 

On  the  other  hand,  everything  planned  for  the  general 
good  of  the  pupils  of  our  school  is  better  secured  if  we 
maintain  a  unified  department  of  foreign  language  — 
one  language  and  one  only. 

The  pupil  may  now  be  placed  with  a  speed-group  that 
enables  him  to  work  and  study  with  markedly  better 
results.     He  may  help  create  an  atmosphere  in  the  school 


150  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

in  which  he  and  his  fellows  may  learn  the  new  language 
more  pleasurably.  He  may  find  opportunities  for  using 
his  new  language  in  the  school  increased  in  proportion 
to  the  number  of  his  fellows  that  are  studying  it.  He 
may  find  his  own  daily  schedule  of  work  made  more 
suitable  by  being  able  to  recite  in  foreign  language 
at  a  time  when  it  is  most  suited  to  his  personal  program, 
rather  than  at  a  time  which  must  be  suited  to  the  pro- 
gram of  his  one  language  teacher.  He  may,  finally,  be 
sure  that  he  will  be  able  to  pursue  his  language  study 
for  the  course  without  fear  of  being  forced  to  drop  it 
toward  the  end  because  his  class  may  have  become  too 
small  to  warrant  a  teacher's  assignment. 

It  is  not  our  purpose  here  to  select,  or  even  to  recom- 
mend, any  one  foreign  language  for  junior  high  school 
study,  unless  that  one  language  be  Latin  taught  as  it 
may  yet  be  taught  for  its  use  in  English  as  well  as  for 
its  own  peculiar  ends. 

However,  from  our  experimental  study  at  Speyer 
School,  we  have  arrived  at  some  conclusions  that  may 
be  pertinent  here,  even  though  we  may  not  say  these 
conclusions  are  inevitable  in  other  situations. 

To  begin  with,  the  best  introduction  to  the  study  of  a 
foreign  language  appears  to  be  six  months  of  study 
about  the  people  who  use  the  language  —  how  they  live 
and  how  their  ancestors  lived  —  rather  than  by  a  direct 
beginning  upon  the  language  itself.  Men  and  women 
who  have  specialized  in  the  study  of  teaching  English 
literature  tell  us  that  the  one  most  vital  step  in  the  good 
teaching  of  literature  is  to  secure  the  proper  mood  or 
setting  for  the  masterpiece  before  ever  a  word  of  it  is 
read.  Equally,  the  most  advanced  students  of  human 
psychology  tell  us  that  our  physical  actions  and  the 
functions  of  our  bodily  organs  are  tremendously  affected 


INTRODUCTORY  FOREIGN  LANGUAGE    151 

by  our  state  of  mind.  If  we  are  greatly  angered,  certain 
chemicals  are  poured  into  our  blood  to  increase  our 
physical  power  of  resistance  far  above  normal,  blood 
flows  from  the  brain  to  the  muscles,  certain  organs  al- 
most stop  work  and  others  work  at  double  speed.  All 
these  things  are  nature's  way  to  prepare  us  to  survive 
in  the  struggle  that  formerly,  at  least,  was  an  accom- 
paniment of  anger.  When  angry  we  may  at  least  strike 
harder  even  if  we  may  not  think  as  well.  Equally, 
in  other  emotional  states,  there  is  an  inevitable  bodily 
preparation  for  the  situation  that  once,  for  age  after  age, 
accompanied,  or  shortly  followed,  each  particular  emo- 
tion. 

Certain  it  is  that  a  predisposition  to  like  a  new  sub- 
ject of  study,  once  both  emotionally  and  rationally  se- 
cured, appears  to  carry  the  beginner  into  the  new  sub- 
ject and  over  its  difficulties  with  a  spirit  of  achievement 
and  a  determination  to  succeed  that  gives  the  one  with 
such  a  predisposition  an  enormous  advantage  over  one 
not  so  predisposed. 

Thus  it  may  be  found  in  a  study  of  a  new  language 
that  it  is  more  often  important  to  begin  well  than  to  begin 
soon.  Given  four  years  of  work  to  be  done  by  adoles- 
cents in  a  new  field,  some  will  be  found  who  believe  that 
in  the  end  a  greater  total  accomplishment  may  be  secured 
by  spending  no  insignificant  fraction  of  the  four  years  in 
first  establishing  an  intellectual  and  emotional  predis- 
position to  like  the  work  that  is  to  be  done.  If  we  accept 
this  basis  temporarily  for  our  junior  high  school  work, 
the  first  six  months  of  any  language  study  may  well  be 
spent  upon  a  daily  study  of  the  people  who  speak  the 
language,  their  home  country,  its  history  and  its  geogra- 
phy. Its  government  past  and  present  will  be  con- 
sidered, though  not  too  formally.     Especially  will  its 


152  THE  JUNIOR  HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

national  heroes  and  heroines  receive  attention  as  even 
will  its  legends,  myths  and  superstitions.  Though  per- 
haps in  no  formal  and  scholarly  way,  our  pupils  may 
yet  be  led  to  enter  and  become  in  imagination  a  part  of 
the  life  of  the  country  whose  language  they  are  to  learn 
—  to  know  what  its  people  think  of  themselves  and  of 
their  neighbors  —  to  know  what  its  children  study  in 
school  or  play  at  in  their  free  time.  Finally,  our  pupils 
may  be  led  to  read  in  translation  some  of  the  master- 
pieces of  this  nation's  best  authors. 

All  this  precedes  any  formal  study  of  the  language 
itself,  though  it  does  not  end  by  any  means  when  the 
formal  study  begins.  The  advantage  that  the  junior 
high  school  has  over  all  other  schools  where  language  is 
studied  lies  in  the  fact  that  we  have  time  to  make  this 
leisurely  beginning  when  others  must  rush  ahead  to 
cover  the  number  of  pages  of  text  or  grammar  that 
the  authorities  prescribe. 

In  our  junior  high  school  the  study  of  the  language  as 
a  language  will  follow  several  months  of  this  gradual 
social  introduction  and  will,  if  a  modern  language,  of 
course,  be  the  direct  or  natural  method  —  not  the  gram- 
matical. Later,  as  the  need  for  grammar  becomes  more 
and  more  appreciated,  it  will  become  more  and  more 
prominent,  but  not  until  the  pupils  can  speak  to  each 
other  in  the  new  tongue  with  considerable  accuracy  of 
pronunciation  and  some  fluency  upon  simple  matters 
near  at  hand,  will  the  emphasis  upon  grammar  become 
what  our  senior  high  school  friends  might  consider  nor- 
mal. Thus  the  junior  high  school  course  fits  itself  to 
conventional  procedure. 

So  much  depends,  however,  upon  the  teacher  who  em- 
ploys this  method  and  her  own  skill  and  tact  in  using  it 
that  we  may  still  consider  this  approach  as  in  the  ex- 


INTRODUCTORY   FOREIGN   LANGUAGE  153 

perimental  stage.  It  does  not  inevitably  secure  good  re- 
sults in  all  hands  —  no  more  for  that,  does  any  method 
new  or  old.  Yet  in  the  hands  of  a  genuinely  skillful 
teacher  the  possibilities  of  this  approach  are  truly  mar- 
velous. 

It  may  not  be  aside  from  the  point  to  consider  in  closing 
certain  abilities  especially  desirable  in  a  junior  high 
school  teacher  in  Foreign  Language.  In  addition  to  the 
ability  needed  for  the  introductory  months  we  have  con- 
sidered, there  are  other  abilities  greatly  in  demand  to 
meet  our  newer  junior  high  school  aims  and  purposes. 
Especially  do  these  newer  abilities  need  emphasis  in  the 
colleges  or  normal  schools  where  our  teachers  of  foreign 
languages  are  trained. 

As  a  first  ability,  or  capacity,  that  needs  training, 
we  may  consider  the  ability  or  capacity  to  discover,  or 
to  invent  ways  and  means  of  furnishing  the  pupil  with 
an  opportunity  to  use  in  an  English-speaking  community 
his  knowledge  of  the  foreign  language  he  studies,  great 
or  small  as  that  knowledge  may  be.  This  ability  appears 
rarely  to  be  sufficiently  emphasized  as  valuable  in  a 
teacher  of  foreign  languages.  In  most  schools  the  use 
of  the  language  seems  to  be  almost  wholly  limited  to 
the  school  period  in  which  it  is  taught,  though  some 
senior  schools  form  language  clubs,  publish  language 
papers,  correspond  with  children  of  the  country  whose 
tongue  they  study  and  even  stage  modern  language 
plays.  Yet  all  this  is  often  regarded  as  something  not 
only  extra-curricular,  but  exotic  or  artificial.  It  is  al- 
most never  considered  a  requirement.  Teachers  who 
now  undertake  this  work  must  still  do  so  on  their  own 
initiative  and  at  their  own  expense  of  money  and  free 
time.  Are  we  therefore  unreasonable  in  expecting  that 
school  systems,  as  well  as  those  who  are  preparing  to 


154  THE  JUNIOR   HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

teach  a  foreign  language,  will  be  led  from  the  start  to 
regard  as  an  essential  part  of  all  modern  language  work 
the  making  provision  not  only  for  learning  the  language, 
but  for  using  it?  Indeed,  is  it  unreasonable  to  expect 
that  some  provision  *  for  the  use  of  the  language  might 
well  be  made  a  prerequisite  for  its  being  taught  at  all? 
If  more  college  professors,  superintendents,  principals 
and  teachers  were  trained  merely  to  accept  this  view- 
point, still  much  good  would  have  been  accomplished. 

*  A  few  suggestions  as  to  ways  of  keeping  up  the  study  of 
the  language  that  is  being  learned,  supplied  by  Miss  Denver 
of  Speyer  School. 

1.  Subscriptions  to  a  magazine  or  newspaper  printed  in  the 

foreign  language. 

2.  Attendance  at  theatres,  churches,  or  social  gatherings,  where 

foreign  idiom  may  be  heard. 

3.  A  definite  daily  period  of  conscious  thinking  in  the  foreign 

language. 

4.  The  possession  of  a  complete  set  of  books  used  in  study- 

ing the  language.  The  loss  of  the  books  "loaned"  by  the 
school  is  often  the  first  break  in  any  continued  interest  in 
subjects  in  the  high  school. 

5.  The  teaching  of  the  language  to  some  other  person. 

6.  The  reading  of  short  articles,  poems  or  news  items  which 

are  to  be  reproduced  in  writing. 

7.  The  habit  of  using  the  foreign  tongue  in  connection  with 

some  particular  activity,  or  person,  or  phase  of  life;  for 
instance,  the  keeping  of  a  diary,  the  keeping  of  one's  per- 
sonal expense  account,  etc.  (I  knew  of  a  German  who 
had  retained  an  amazing  amount  of  English  after  years  of 
life  in  China  and  claimed  to  have  done  it  by  holding  long 
conversations  in  English  with  his  dog!) 

S.  A  system  of  rapid  mental  drills —  checking  up  on  vocabulary, 
translation  of  sentences  taken  at  random  from  general  con- 
versation, rapid  sight  translation  of  items  of  interest  (all 
words  not  known  or  new  words  and  technical  expressions 
to  be  looked  up  and  noted  carefully.) 

9.  Correspondence  with  a  native  of  the  country  whose  lan- 
guage has  been  studied. 


INTRODUCTORY  FOREIGN  LANGUAGE    155 

As  a  second  desirable,  though  but  slightly  emphasized, 
ability  in  the  training  of  modern  language  teachers,  we 
might  name  the  ability  to  show  language  relations  — 
the  ability  to  connect  the  language  with  the  earlier 
tongues  from  which  in  part  it  was  derived  —  and  with 
the  modern  English  to  which  it  may  contribute. 

Is  it  unreasonable  to  expect  the  pupil  who  is  studying 
his  new  vocabulary  to  tell  both  the  Latin  ancestors  and 
the  English  descendants  of  the  word  he  studies  —  this 
not  so  much  perhaps  for  the  sake  of  the  foreign  language 
as  for  the  sake  of  the  pupil's  general  cultural  training? 

Is  it  unreasonable  in  us  to  expect  that  even  the  be- 
ginner's book  will,  in  its  simple  vocabulary,  call  some 
attention  by  its  type  arrangement  to  the  common  an- 
cestry of  the  foreign  and  the  English  words?  If  it  did 
this,  would  it  not  be  a  better  book  than  the  one  which  did 
not?  In  default  of  such  a  text  may  not  the  teacher 
be  expected  to  supply  the  deficiency?  Not  that  we 
would  introduce  the  study  of  comparative  philology  into 
elementary  work  in  foreign  language,  but  that  we  would 
never  pass  over  without  mention  foreign  words  that 
have  sons  or  cousins  in  English  without  plainly  calling 
attention  to  this  relationship  when  the  foreign  word  was 
met  with  for  the  first  time. 

The  third  of  these  newer  abilities,  or  capacities,  that 
we  might  like  to  see.made  a  serious  aim,  is  an  ability  on 
the  part  of  the  teacher  of  foreign  language  to  forecast 
w;th  a  considerable  degree  of  accuracy  the  probable  suc- 
cess or  failure  of  the  pupils  in  his  class.  The  psychol- 
ogists are  working  out  prognostic  tests  with  a  high  de- 
gree of  probability  for  general  school  success.  The  next 
few  years  may  witness,  as  we  are  witnessing,  the  pub- 
lication of  prognostic  tests  in  modern  languages  that  may 
prove  of  equal  value.  While  these  tests  are  in  the  making 


156  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

it  seems  reasonable  to  expect  that  every  modern  language 
teacher  should  have  his  eyes  constantly  open  for  lan- 
guage situations  that  will  be  of  prognostic  value.  Other 
things  being  equal,  the  teacher  who  is  trained  to  work 
along  this  line  will  be  a  better  teacher  than  the  one 
without  such  training. 

As  a  corollary  of  this  should  come  the  right  of  a 
teacher,  trained  as  we  have  indicated,  to  debar  from  a 
further  study  of  foreign  language  those  who  show  un- 
doubted signs  of  approaching  inevitable  failure.  Our 
Speyer  records  show  that  all  the  pupils  who  fail  in  our 
introductory  work  in  foreign  language,  but  who  insist 
upon  repeating  their  work  in  senior  high  school,  fail 
again  as  lamentably  as  ever.  Could  we  but  direct  to 
other  subjects  those  who  have  no  hope  of  ultimate  success 
we  could  save  both  pupils  and  teachers  many  hours  of 
wasted  effort.  Naturally  the  power  to  select  must  come 
before  the  power  to  debar.  However,  when  one  is  es- 
tablished, the  other  will  not  long  be  withheld. 

In  the  meantime,  let  us  all,  teachers  of  foreign  lan- 
guages included,  hasten  the  day  when  the  colleges  will 
recognize  that  young  men  and  women  may  still  be  de- 
sirable student  material  even  if  they  show  an  entire  in- 
ability to  pursue  with  reasonable  hope  of  success  the 
study  of  any  foreign  language. 

QUESTIONS 

1.  What  is  the  one  great  experiment  in  Foreign  Language 

still  awaiting  trial  and  why  cannot  it  be  tried  now? 

2.  What  educational  service  (aside  from  information  and  cul- 

ture) has  Latin  furnished? 

3.  What  change  of  view  as  to  the  success  and  failure  of  pu- 

pils characterizes  the  modern  high  school? 

4.  What   arguments   can   I    advance   against    using   Foreign 

Language  for  its  selective  value? 


INTRODUCTORY  FOREIGN  LANGUAGE    157 

5.  Why  must  Foreign  Language  be  taught  at  all? 

6.  What  are  the  chief  arguments  for  and  against  the  adop- 

tion of  Latin  as  the  introductory  foreign  language  for 
a  junior  high  school? 

7.  What  qualifications  should  our  introductory  foreign  lan- 

guage possess. 

8.  Why  should  a  junior  high  school  attempt  but  one  for- 

eign language? 

9.  What    form    of   introduction   to    foreign   language    study 

would  I  propose  and  why? 
10.  What  newer  abilities  may  we  expect  the  junior  high  school 
teacher  of  foreign  language  to  possess? 


CHAPTER  IX 
GENERAL   INTRODUCTORY   SCIENCE 

When  any  new  subject  of  instruction  applies  for  ad- 
mission to  the  high  school  curriculum,  it  is  at  once  the 
object  of  attack  from  the  proponents  of  all  the  sub- 
jects that  may  possibly  suffer  exclusion  if  the  new  sub- 
ject is  granted  admission. 

General  Science,  though  in  some  communities  still 
fighting  for  recognition,  may  be  considered  on  the  whole 
as  having  gained  a  place  in  the  junior  high  school  in- 
struction, though  it  still  holds  that  place  under  the  fire 
of  criticism  from  sympathizers  of  the  subjects  that  have 
yielded  ground. 

It  is  far  better  for  us  not  to  consider  whether  General 
Science  is  better  than  Latin,  or  Greek,  or  Ancient  His- 
tory, but  rather  to  consider  whether  the  training  and  in- 
formation given  by  Science  is  so  valuable  that  we  cannot 
possibly  omit  it  from  our  program  of  studies. 

We  are  told  that  each  pioneer  American  home  a 
century  or  more  ago  was  almost  completely  a  community 
in  itself.  Not  only  did  the  father  of  the  family  build  his 
own  home,  plough,  plant  and  cultivate  his  own  fields, 
but  he  gathered  and  disposed  of  his  own  harvest.  Be- 
side this  he  doctored  his  own  stock  for  their  ailments, 
made  or  mended  his  own  harness  and  wagons,  built  his 
own  roads,  cut,  hauled  and  split  his  own  lumber  or 
firewood. 

Similarly,  the  mother  of  the  family,  not  only  prepared 

158 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTORY  SCIENCE  159 

for  the  members  of  her  household  the  food  which  nour- 
ished them,  but  she  also  wove  their  linen  or  wool,  made 
their  clothing  and  even  doctored  the  children  when  they 
were  ill. 

With  the  increase  in  our  American  population  and  the 
improvement  in  our  methods  of  transportation  and  com- 
munication, the  isolation  of  the  pioneer  family  was 
greatly  lessened.  It  became  more  and  more  possible  for 
the  family  to  cease  being  an  independent  community  in 
itself  and  instead,  a  more  or  less  necessary  part  of  a 
larger  group  in  a  village  or  town.  The  family  no  longer 
was  obliged  to  supply  all  its  wants  from  within  its  own 
circle,  but  by  the  exchange  of  labor  and  commodities 
could  specialize  on  that  community  demand  which  it 
was  best  able  to  supply.  Gradually  it  became  possible 
for  a  group  of  men  living  in  one  American  town  or  city  to 
supply  a  larger  and  larger  territory  with  the  one  manu- 
factured article  it  labored  upon,  until  now  the  whole 
nation  may  be  reached  by  the  products  of  some  one 
small  specialist  group. 

In  the  same  way  it  became  possible  for  a  man  to  spe- 
cialize in  not  only  one  field  of  learning  or  of  trade,  but 
finally  to  specialize  in  one  tiny  fraction  of  that  already 
greatly  limited  field,  so  that  in  the  extreme  today  we 
have  surgeons  that  perform  one  special  operation  and 
lawyers  who  undertake  but  one  special  kind  of  case,  as 
well  as  artisans  who  tighten  but  one  bolt  or  stitch  but 
one  set  of  threads.  So  in  America  we  gradually,  by  the 
greater  knowledge  and  skill  of  the  specialist  have  come 
to  a  division  of  labor  that  makes  it  more'  and  more  neces- 
sary that  a  man  become  expert  in  doing  some  one  thing 
and,  possibly,  as  in  some  kinds  of  factory  work,  doing 
but  the  one  thing  over  and  over  again  year  in  and  year 
out  for  all  his  working  life. 


160  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

Whether  or  not  this  extreme  division  of  labor  has  made 
on  the  whole  for  human  happiness  may  be  questioned 
by  some  philosophers,  but  no  one  will  dispute  the  fact 
that  to  the  advances  in  physical,  chemical  and  biologi- 
cal science  this  truly  wonderful  transformation  is  al- 
most wholly  due. 

So  it  might  seem  that  a  study  of  the  forces  that  have 
made  this  economic  and  social  change  possible  could 
claim  some  consideration  in  any  school  curriculum.  And 
yet  there  are  still  many  that  will  claim  in  this  age  of 
specialization  that  while  it  may  be  desirable  that  some 
men  become  specialists  in  the  various  fields  of  science, 
still  for  the  rank  and  file  there  is  no  need  for 
requiring  even  elementary  general  science  instruction. 
The  leaders  in  science,  these  objectors  say,  must  be  col- 
lege or  university  trained  men,  so  let  our  schoolboy  stick 
to  the  old  and  tried  curriculum  of  his  fathers,  during  his 
pre-college  years  —  there  will  be  time  enough  for  him 
to  study  science  when  he  reaches  college  if  ever  his  edu- 
cation goes  that  far. 

Whatever  be  our  bias  for  science  instruction,  we  can- 
not entirely  pass  over  the  valid  points  in  the  criticisms 
that  have  been  raised.  Is  it  necessary  that  we  all  know 
something  of  science,  let  us  ask  ourselves,  when  we  can 
so  easily  buy  or  hire  the  products  of  science  to  get  the 
results  we  want? 

For  example,  is  it  really  necessary  to  our  mental  equip- 
ment that  we  understand  the  principle  of  the  telegraph 
when  all  we  need  to  know  to  send  a  telegram  is  be  able 
to  write  our  message  and  to  pay  for  its  transmission. 
To  be  sure,  every  normal  boy  is  enthusiastic  about  the 
possibility  of  electrical  experimentation;  he  gets  a  gen- 
uine joy  from  his  home-made  telegraph  instrument  and 
more  and  more  he  is  taking  up  "wireless"  for  the  fun 


GENERAL   INTRODUCTORY   SCIENCE  161 

of  it.  Yet  after  all,  is  this  "Study"?  Will  it  help  him  to 
do  better  the  things  he  must  do  anyway?  The  answer 
is  by  no  means  beyond  the  possibility  of  being  ques- 
tioned, whichever  way  we  may  cast  our  vote. 

However,  there  is  another  wholly  different  angle  from 
which  to  approach  the  study  of  science.  It  is  claimed 
that  to  the  extent  that  every  man,  woman  and  child  in 
the  nation  knows  something  of  the  how,  the  why  and 
the  wherefore  of  scientific  processes  he  or  she  employs, 
to  that  extent  the  nation  is  better  prepared  for  happiness 
and  prosperity  in  times  of  peace  and  self  defense  in 
time  of  war. 

These  proponents  of  science  tell  us  that  it  is  the  emer- 
gency, testing  our  fitness  to  survive,  which  gives  us 
a  better  judgment  of  the  relative  value  of  the  things 
we  ought  to  know.  To  be  sure,  the  unusual  demands  of 
a  great  war  in  which  even  the  children  in  the  home 
were  to  an  extent  participants  may  give  us  temporarily 
an  artificial  set  of  standards  and  yet  it  may  also  give 
us  a  truer  vision  of  the  things  that  are  permanently 
worth  while. 

"When  all  the  available  labor  of  our  nation  was  so 
recently  required  for  the  essential  industries  and  when 
it  was  considered  the  height  of  selfishness  to  demand 
private  and  personal  service  of  those  whose  efforts  ap- 
plied elsewhere  might  help  win  the  war,  many  a  man 
and  woman  suffered  in  countless  minor  and  often  in 
some  major  ways  because  he  or  she  had  not  the  knowledge 
of  some  homely  matters  that  even  the  study  of 
elementary  science  might  have  supplied. 

(  '.hi  it  be  that  with  the  introduction  of  general  science 
to  the  school  curriculum  we  are  marking  the  beginning 
of  a  new  industrial  epoch  in  which,  though  ever  so  slowly, 
the    pendulum    is    starting    to    swing    back    toward    a 


162  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL  IDEA 

greater  independence  of  the  home  from  the  service  of 
the  hired  specialist?  Not  that  we  may  ever  become  in 
any  home  a  world  unto  ourselves,  but  that  we  shall  learn 
to  use  in  our  homes  the  products  of  science,  the  machines 
and  inventions  that  science  supplies,  more  as  masters  and 
less  as  ignorant  operators. 

To  be  sure  there  will  always  be  men  whose  services 
in  one  special  field  will  be  so  great  that  they  will  better 
serve  their  day  and  generation  by  putting  all  their  energy 
and  time  upon  this  single  specialty,  but  for  the  general 
run  of  mortals  with  no  such  preeminent  abilities,  may 
not  a  greater  freedom  from  the  necessity  of  calling  upon 
the  special  knowledge  of  the  outsider  make  us  generally 
more  happy  and  more  efficient. 

Has  not  the  division  of  labor  both  real  and  artificial 
been  carried  to  an  extent  that  may  cripple  us  as  individu- 
als and  as  a  nation?  As  an  example,  recently  a  friend  of 
mine  had  in  his  cellar  a  leaky  iron  water  pipe  that 
troubled  him  and  he  called  a  plumber  to  mend  it.  When 
the  job  was  done  my  friend  found  that  the  drip  from 
the  water  pipe  had  rusted  a  small  hole  in  the  similar 
iron  steam  pipe  underneath.  When  my  friend  asked  the 
plumber  to  mend  that  also,  the  plumber  indignantly  and 
persistently  refused.  To  mend  a  steam  pipe,  it  appeared, 
was  a  steamfitter's  job  and  the  plumber  who  touched 
a  steam  pipe  might  find  himself  unable  to  get  employ- 
ment in  the  entire  city. 

Another  friend  employed,  to  repair  the  brick  cornices 
of  his  house,  a  brick-layer,  who  in  the  course  of  his 
work  discovered  one  loosened  slate  which  he  was  un- 
willing to  fasten  by  a  single  nail  because  that  was 
a  roofer's  job  and  not  his  special  trade. 

Even  as  a  last  example  of  artificial  specialization,  a 
paper  hanger  that  I  knew  had  to  paint  the  front  of  his 


GENERAL   INTRODUCTORY   SCIENCE  163 

own  little  shop  at  midnight  lest  he  be  discovered  work- 
ing at  another's  trade. 

A  study  of  the  employment  conditions  in  a  great  city 
may,  or  may  not,  convince  us  that  this  super-special- 
ization of  artisans  is  a  necessary  and  altogether  justi- 
fiable procedure,  but  it  has  served  its  purpose  here  as  an 
illustration  of  the  situation  that  sooner  or  later  seems 
bound  to  confront  us  all,  not  simply  in  the  field  of  the 
skilled  trades,  but  in  our  every  day.  life  at  home  or  in 
our  special  occupations.  For  the  average  man  today  in 
his  average  American  home,  whether  he  rent  or  own  it, 
the  degree  of  helplessness  and  dependency  which  he  ex- 
periences even  in  little  things  seems  almost  to  have 
reached  the  maximum. 

Americans  as  a  national  group,  whatever  be  their  racial 
origin,  were  once  credited  with  an  adaptability,  an  abil- 
ity to  take  care  of  themselves  and  an  ability  to  invent 
new  and  better  ways  of  doing  things  that  older  national 
groups  did  not  possess.  Yet  today,  aside  from  our  con- 
spicuous examples  of  specialist  inventors,  as  a  nation 
we  could  scarcely  merit  any  special  commendation  in 
the  field  in  which  we  once  excelled. 

Our  crass  ignorance,  if  not  of  the  how  at  least  of  the 
why  of  things  that  science  daily  does  for  us  is,  many 
claim,  at  the  bottom  of  our  patent  helplessness.  We 
speak  and  read  and  write  our  common  native  language, 
but  we  have  in  our*  division  of  labor  permitted  a  group 
of  men  to  grow  up  in  our  midst  speaking  a  language  which 
we  do  not  understand.  The  engineers  in  science  bring 
us  our  water,  take  away  our  waste,  supply  us  with  light 
and  heat,  transportation  and  communication,  wit  Ik  nit 
all  of  which  we  feel  we  would  not  greatly  care  to  survive, 
and  yet  in  our  schools  we  teach  little  or  nothing  about 
the  work  of  the  men  who  make  these  services  possible. 


164  THE  JUNIOR  HIGH   SCHOOL  IDEA 

We  take  for  granted  all  that  is  supplied  and  complain 
that  more  is  not  furnished.  At  the  same  time  we  make 
in  our  schools  little  or  no  provision  for  supplying  a  con- 
stantly improving  type  of  science  instruction,  in  order 
that  future  generations  may  advance  as  much  beyond  our 
own  in  creature  comforts  as  we  have  advanced  over  the 
generation  that  is  passing  away. 

We  even  trust  to  our  popular  magazines  to  tell  us 
in  diluted  language  the  way  to  care  for  our  own  body  — 
its  diet  and  its  regimen.  If  we  are  ill,  we  call  the 
specialist  who  endeavors  to  correct  in  a  few  weeks  the 
results,  possibly,  of  years  of  ignorant  and  harmful  living. 

Everywhere  we  let  our  homes,  our  household  equip- 
ment and,  most  of  all,  our  own  bodies  suffer  needless  loss 
and  waste  through  our  own  ignorance,  and  then  call  upon 
the  specialist,  be  he  carpenter,  dentist  or  physician,  to 
help  cure  an  entirely  preventable  situation. 

Any  subject  or  subjects  that  gave  promise  of  making 
us  as  a  nation  or  as  individuals  better  able  to  live  more 
useful  and  more  happy  lives  would  deserve  consideration. 

If  science  makes  that  promise  real  then  science  should 
be  and  must  be  studied  in  school  no  matter  what  other 
subjects  have  to  lose  thereby. 

However,  we  want  to  make  sure  that  what  we  study 
will  be  of  value  to  us,  not  primarily  to  make  us  scientists, 
but  to  make  us  able  to  use  science  to  help  our  daily 
living.  One  difficulty  with  science  instruction  in  the 
past  seems  to  have  been  the  emphasis  laid  upon  what 
the  scientist  himself  considered  fundamentals,  but  which 
were  without  significance  to  the  man  on  the  street.  In 
chemistry,  the  most  difficult  abstractions,  theories  and 
laws  were  proposed  for  the  first  semester's  study.  In 
the  elementary  grades,  physical  science  often  began  with 
a  discussion  of  the  law  of  levers,  or  the  determination 


GENERAL   INTRODUCTORY   SCIENCE  165 

of  specific  gravity.  In  a  study  of  the  human  body  — 
supposedly  studied  as  a  guide  to  hygienic  living  —  the 
pupil  often  began  with  a  study  of  the  bones  of  the  skull. 
And  so  through  all  the  proposed  subjects  of  instruction 
in  science  ran  the  super-emphasis  on  what  the  scientist 
himself  considered  basic  and  fundamental  knowledge  for 
an  embryo  scientist,  rather  than  upon  such  common  in- 
formation as  the  salesman,  the  shop  keeper,  the  farmer, 
or  the  skilled  laborer  might  find  worth  while. 

If  our  present  point  of  view  is  the  correct  one,  we  must 
banish  the  science  text-books  of  the  recent  past  and  be- 
gin to  work  out  a  new  series  based  upon  what  science 
does  and  can  do  for  us,  rather  than  upon  what  we  can 
do  for  science.  We  shall  use  the  findings  of  science  when 
and  where  they  apply  to  our  daily  living  with  scant 
professional  consideration  of  the  fields  of  science  that 
may  furnish  us  our  material. 

In  our  junior  high  schools  then  we  will  teach  Gem  mi 
Science  from  the  start,  because  our  children  need  to 
know  the  ways  science  helps  them  to  live  in  the  fullest 
sense.  We  shall  teach  General  Science  in  order  that  our 
pupils  shall  become  healthier,  happier,  more  efficient 
workers,  whatever  be  their  chosen  field.  We  shall, 
through  General  Science,  teach  our  pupils  to  be  better 
able  to  use,  intelligently  and  economically,  the  products 
which  science  supplies.  We  shall  teach  our  pupils  to 
depend  less  upon  the"  hired  specialist  in  workaday  science, 
because  each  pupil  will  have  himself  the  knowledge  that 
formerly  only  the  skilled  worker  possessed.  Finally, 
we  shall  open  up  each  junior  high  school  pupil's  mind  to 
the  possibilities  of  taking  some  part  in  the  world  of 
science  as  ;i  worker  in  that  field,  but  in  our  junior  high 
school  we  shall  not  attempt  to  give  even  a  rudiment  ary 
beginning  of  that  training. 


166  THE  JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL  IDEA 

If  in  our  discussion  of  junior  high  school  Introductory 
Science  we  have  taken  an  inordinate  amount  of  time 
before  approaching  our  subject  itself  it  is  because  we 
need  to  know  why  we  should  teach  science  at  all,  rather 
than  of  what  our  science  subject-matter  should  consist. 

It  might  be  possible  to  work  out  a  course  of  study  that 
would  satisfy  all  our  previous  requirements,  but  that 
would  still,  if  taught  from  the  wrong  point  of  view,  give 
little  that  our  earlier  discussion  indicated  as  valuable. 
In  our  introductory  work,  we  must  be  surely  progressing 
with  our  feet  on  the  ground.  We  must  be  distinctly  and 
positively  utilitarian  in  our  projects.  We  must  find  out 
the  things  of  science  that  every  boy  or  girl  will  be  helped 
by  learning  and  helped  so  far  as  is  possible  here  and  now, 
rather  than  at  some  future  time. 

Because  our  seventh  year  pupils  are  but  children  with  a 
child's  point  of  view,  it  is  more  essential  that  we  stress 
at  the  start  how  things  work,  rather  than  to  be- 
gin too  early  a  study  of  why  things  work  and  kill  the 
interest  that  otherwise  might  be  awakened. 

If  we  are  skillful  teachers  of  General  Introductory 
Science,  we  will  scarcely  ever  need  ourselves  to  empha- 
size the  why  at  all,  because  it  is  the  nature  of  the 
normal  boy  or  girl  to  want  to  follow  up  this  how  with 
a  why,  and  it  will  be  our  duty  to  supply  the  more 
difficult  side  of  science  instruction  when  and  where  the 
pupil  naturally  demands  it. 

In  the  city  and  in  the  country  the  content  of  our 
Introductory  General  Science  course  will  not  be  the  same, 
because  the  demands  upon  the  individual  are  different. 
Even  in  a  single  city  the  neighborhood  demands  may 
greatly  differ  and  so  we  may  propose  a  different  line 
of  initial  work  for  each  locality. 

In  a  community  where  most  of  the  families  live  in 


GENERAL   INTRODUCTORY   SCIENCE  167 

detached  houses  the  earliest  science  projects  may  be 
quite  different  from  those  taken  up  by  a  class  whose 
parents  live  in  city  flats.  So,  too,  in  a  rural  community, 
the  subjects  of  study  in  Introductory  Science  would  be 
far  other  than  those  taken  up  in  a  village  or  in  a  town. 

If  our  point  of  view  is  the  correct  one,  then  it  is  im- 
possible for  any  one  to  write  a  text-book  in  General 
Science  that  will  meet  all  local  situations  unless  he 
write  an  encyclopedia  from  which  one  is  free  to  select 
the  topics  that  are  locally  most  significant.  Indeed 
the  best  texts  now  in  the  market  are,  in  my  opinion,  those 
that  offer  the  widest  possible  range  for  individual 
selection.  For  the  sake  of  a  needless  uniformity  super- 
visors may  require  a  certain  text  to  be  used,  but  for 
the  pupils'  sake  no  text  at  all  is  often  the  better  proposi- 
tion, if  only  the  teacher  is  well  informed. 

If  we  were  asked  to  put  down  a  list  of  projects  for 
introductory  science  work  we  should  have  so  hetero- 
geneous a  collection  that  it  would  defy  classification.  We 
might  start  with  "How  a  fountain  pen  works"  and  end 
with  a  study  of  the  various  types  of  washing  machines 
now  on  the  market.  In  another  community,  we  might 
study  house-heating,  or  the  refrigeration  of  food  in  cold 
storage,  or  in  the  family  ice-chest.  In  a  rural  community, 
we  might  study  septic  tanks  and  end  with  the  selective 
breeding  of  varieties  of  wheat.  In  one  neighborhood,  we 
might  study  the  checking  of  malaria  and  yellow  fever 
by  the  eradication  of  mosquito  breeding  places  and  in 
another  we  might  consider  the  processes  of  aeroplane 
construction.  The  variety  of  worth-while  possibilities 
seems  almost  infinite. 

In  our  junior  high  school  work  we  shall  not  be  greatly 
concerned  with  abstracting  that  general  body  of  law 
and  theory  that  underlies  the  phenomena  we  study  and 


168  THE  JUNIOR  HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

so  marking  our  work  as  the  rudiments  of  real  science. 
For  nine-tenths  of  our  work  we  shall  be  content  if  our 
pupils  know  how  the  process  or  machine  works,  and  a  lit- 
tle something  too  about  why  it  does  as  it  does. 

To  be  sure  the  instructor  may,  on  his  private  memo- 
randum, check  off  against  each  science  —  Biology  (Zool- 
ogy, Botany,  Human  Physiology),  Chemistry,  or  Phys- 
ics —  the  laws  that  his  pupils  have  been  led  to  call  upon 
in  their  investigations.  Such  a  list  may  surprise  even 
the  scientist  himself  when  completed,  but  the  emphasis 
at  the  start  is  not  upon  the  law,  but  upon  its  utilization 
in  some  definite  process. 

Care  must  be  used  and  great  skill  employed  in  ar- 
ranging the  projects  a  class  may  select,  in  gradations  of 
difficulty,  so  that  both  the  how  and  the  why  of  the 
processes  or  machines  studied  will  be  suited  either  to 
the  immaturity,  or  to  the  advancement,  of  the  pupils 
who  are  studying  it.  Not  only  present  interest,  but 
equally,  present  capacity  must  be  considered  in  arrang- 
ing the  course. 

Where  text-books  in  general  science  are  available,  the 
use  of  several  texts,  certainly  not  less  than  four  or  five, 
is  heartily  recommended,  even  though  but  one  book 
per  pupil  be  purchased,  so  that  by  using  these  various 
texts  as  reference  books,  the  teacher  and  the  pupil  may 
be  helped  in  arranging  the  projects  or  topics  to  be  studied 
in  some  sequence  based  upon  their  difficulty  of  compre- 
hension. 

At  Speyer  School  we  devote  to  General  Introductory 
Science  five  weekly  periods  for  each  of  the  junior  high 
school  years.  For  at  least  one  year's  work  three  of  those 
five  weekly  periods  of  school  time  are  devoted  to  science 
excursions  in  the  field.  Our  science  curriculum  is  still 
in  the  process  of  formation  and  we  do  not  regard  it  as 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTORY  SCIENCE  169 

satisfactory  because  it  is,  as  yet,  far  too  dependent  upon 
a  text-book  arrangement. 

In  proportion  as  we  are  able  to  work  out  a  series 
of  graded  projects  that  are  of  significance  in  the  lives 
of  our  pupils  and  in  proportion  as  our  teachers  are  able 
to  break  away  from  the  conventions  of  a  text-book 
classification  on  purely  logical  lines  we  shall  be  able  to 
realize  our  aims. 

The  greatest  problem  for  us  is  to  find  teachers  who 
have  the  originality,  the  initiative  and  the  information 
necessary  for  such  a  course  as  we  are  attempting.  In 
proportion  as  our  teachers  are  able  to  meet  these  newer 
and  more  difficult  demands,  to  that  extent  we  are  measur- 
ing up  to  our  possibilities. 

Finally,  a  word  of  caution  is  needed  to  the  instructor 
lest  our  little  students  of  General  Introductory  Science 
become  pseudo-scientists  through  their  own  first  meager 
study,  and  imagine  that  they  know  "all  about"  engines, 
or  motors,  or  aeroplanes  because  they  have  had  some 
tiny  glimpse  of  the  principles  of  science  that  underlie 
them. 

The  good  teacher  of  general  science  will  be  careful 
to  give  full  emphasis  to  the  difficulty  and  the  extent  of 
each  field  whose  gateway  he  swings  open  for  the  instant. 
If,  for  example,  he  explains  the  principles  by  which  a 
submarine  controls  its  rising  or  submerging,  he  will, 
somewhere  in  the  explanation,  make  it  plain  that  volumes 
need  to  be  studied  to  thoroughly  understand  what  he  so 
superficially  elucidates.  Let  the  children  know  at  every 
step  that  such  science  as  they  now  are  gaining  is  most 
rudimentary  and  superficial,  even  though  it  is,  as  far 
as  it  goes,  a  glimpse  of  fundamental  truth. 

If  there  are  good  reference  books  in  the  library,  pu- 
pils may  be  assigned  to  bring  them  in  for  class  observa- 


170  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

tion,  even  when  their  content  is  far  beyond  the 
present  intellectual  capacity  of  any  one  in  the  class. 
This,  indeed,  may  be  necessary  to  prevent  many  a  young 
enthusiast  from  turning  toward  achievement  in  science 
a  mind  and  an  ability  that  might  be  far  better  employed 
in  selling  goods  behind  a  counter. 

Once  in  a  technical  high  school,  I  had  the  opportunity 
of  questioning  and  testing  over  a  hundred  boys  who 
professed  to  have  entered  this  school  so  that  they  might 
become  civil  or  electrical  engineers.  A  survey  of  this 
group  found  not  a  single  one  that  had  any  idea  of  the 
length  of  time  and  amount  of  study  necessary  for  the 
accomplishment  of  his  professed  ambition.  Some  few 
indeed  expected  to  become  electrical  engineers  after 
one  year  in  high  school!  These  boys  had  studied  elec- 
tricity for  about  ten  lessons  or  so  in  their  elementary 
school  and  found  it  so  interesting  with  bells  and  buzzers 
and  telegraph  sounders  that  they  were  filled  with  a  de- 
sire to  spend  a  life  time  in  working  with  the  mysterious 
power  their  home-made  batteries  produced.  For  their 
enthusiasm  we  may  have  no  criticism,  but  for  the  teacher 
who  let  them  go  without  a  word  of  warning,  we  may  have 
serious  censure.  As  teachers  of  general  science  in  the 
junior  high  school,  let  us  open  the  doors  of  achievement 
in  science  to  the  capable  and  the  ambitious,  but  let  us  be 
sure  our  pupils  see  the  inevitable  requirements  that  lie 
just  within  the  threshold.  Our  pupils  must  be  shown 
at  some  time  on  each  topic  what  they  have  not  been 
taught  as  well  as  commended  upon  what  they  really  may 
have  learned. 

So,  at  the  conclusion  of  our  discussion,  our  scientific 
friends  may  say  —  decidedly  this  General  Introductory 
Science  is  not  science  at  all.  In  this  we  must  perforce 
agree  if  by  science  we  mean  a  study  of  the  theories  and 


GENERAL   INTRODUCTORY   SCIENCE  171 

laws  of  chemistry  and  of  physics  and  of  biology  with 
some  scant  reference  to  their  application  in  the  laboratory. 
Yet  if  this  be  not  introductory  science  by  what  other 
name  shall  we  call  it?  At  least,  we  know  what  we  are 
doing  and  why  we  are  doing  it,  and  we  are  firmly  con- 
vinced that  it  will  help  our  children  to  do  better  the 
things  they  will  do  anyway.  Therefore,  let  us  not  be 
disturbed  as  to  whether  or  not  it  be  science,  convinced  as 
we  are  that  it  is  both  necessary  and  vital  education. 


QUESTIONS 

1.  What  are  some  of  the  gains  that  the  average  American 

family  has  secured  by  the  division  of  labor? 

2.  What  loss  in  education  have  American  children  and  adults 

suffered  by  this  division  of  labor? 

3.  What  are  the   chief  arguments  against   emphasizing  the 

teaching  of  scientific  laws  or  principles  in  the  junior 
high  school? 

4.  If  we  do  not  emphasize  the  laws  of  science  why  should 

we   teach  science   at   all? 

5.  Who  are  some  of  the  men  in  my  own  community  upon 

whose  knowledge  of  science  (great  or  small  as  that  may 
be)  my  pupils'  food,  clothing  and  shelter  chiefly 
depend9 

6.  Who  are  some  of  the  specialists  whose  services  we  require 

in  order  to  make  good  losses  suffered  through  our  own 
ignorance? 

7.  What  may  be  some  of  the  more  worthy  aims  of  General 

Introductory  Science  in  the  junior  high  school? 

S.  How  may  a  knowledge  of  "how  things  work"  as  con- 
trasted with  "why  things  work"  still  lie  of  value?  (See 
Professor  Briggs'  definition) 

9.  Why  should  we  begin  with  a  study  of  "how  things  work"? 

10.  Why  should   the   content   of  our  course  differ   with   the 

community? 

11.  What   are  ten  topics  or  processes  in  General   Science  that 

may  well  be  studied  in  a  rural  community'.' 

12.  What   are   ten    topics    in   General   Science   that   may   be 

studied  in  a  city. 


172  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

13.  What  is  the  greatest  problem  in  introducing  General  Sci- 

ence instruction  in  a  junior  high  school? 

14.  What  caution  must  all  teachers  of  General  Science  keep 

constantly  in  mind  in  every  general  science   project? 

15.  What  should  our  children  be  taught  regarding  the  edu- 

cation of  a  scientist? 


CHAPTER  X 
INTRODUCTORY   SOCIAL   SCIENCE 

Let  us  admit  at  the  beginning  of  our  new  chapter  that 
we  are  not  most  of  us  intensive  students  or  specialists 
in  history,  civics,  or  geography.  Let  us  admit  too  that 
we  are  less  concerned  with  what  we  can  give  to  a  study 
of  these  subjects  than  what  we  can  get  from  them  for 
our  pupils'  good.  Let  us  admit  further  that  we  may  for 
once  be  leaving  the  solid  ground  of  precedent  and  ex- 
perience and  be  essaying  the  thin  air  of  theory  in  our 
discussion. 

Nevertheless,  we  have,  with  all  our  admissions,  re- 
served one  point  of  strategic  advantage.  A  history  of 
the  world  might  be  written  by  some  all-seeing  eye  based 
upon  the  men  who  refused  to  make  progress  because 
they  knew  the  thing  was  impossible.  But  the  histories 
we  study  naturally  cannot  tell  us  of  these  men  who  were 
dead  to  progress  while  they  yet  lived. 

So  because  of  our  ignorance  we  may  still  strive  to 
work  ahead  never  knowing  as  the  savants  do  that  we  arc 
attempting  to  do  that  which  cannot  be  done.  And  yet  we 
are  not  wholly  untutored  for  we  have  studied  history, 
geography  and  civics  at  least  in  elementary  and  high 
schools  and  may  be  studying  these  subjects  still  as  we  at- 
tempt to  keep  up  with  the  times,  in  the  public  press,  the 
current  magazines  and  even,  occasionally,  in  the  periodi- 
cals of  the  specialists  themselves.  Indeed  even  imt  so  long 
ago  some  of  us  may  have  been  entertained  or  even  tempo- 

173 


174  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

rarily  amused  when  printed  court  records  showed  one 
of  America's  foremost  producers  to  have  a  more  limited 
knowledge  of  the  world  history  than  that  possessed  today 
by  many  children  in  school.  And  yet  after  sober  second 
thought  still  more  of  us  might  have  been  willing  to  ex- 
change for  America's  ultimate  happiness  a  score  of  our 
best  historians  for  one  master  mind  in  business  organ- 
ization and  mechanical  production. 

And  yet  with  all  our  boasting  of  ignorance,  let  us  still 
approach  this  new  field  with  something  akin  to  reverence 
and  awe,  for  what  we  are,  and  what  our  children  will  be, 
depends  to  no  small  extent  upon  what  the  past  has  taught 
us,  whether  from  tradition,  sources,  social  intercourse, 
or  written  records. 

History 

Of  all  the  subjects  in  our  junior  high  school  program  of 
studies,  there  seems  to  be  the  least  agreement  upon  the 
course  of  study  in  what  used  to  be  called  American 
History.  In  America  we  seem  to  know  far  better  what 
to  put  in  such  a  course  than  what  to  leave  out,  with  the 
result  that  most  American  specialists  in  history  and  in 
the  teaching  of  history,  propose  today  a  course  for 
children  that  many  grown  men  and  women  would  find 
it  difficult  to  pursue  with  credit. 

Presumably  one  purpose  of  teaching  history  in  our 
schools  is  because  it  is  supposed  to  have  at  least  some 
influence  upon  our  daily  living,  helping  us  to  solve 
the  present  problems  we  meet  as  individuals  or  as  social 
groups.  As  a  matter  of  experience  few  of  us  adults  who 
have  studied  the  history  once  required  in  our  free  schools 
will  be  able  to  furnish  any  extended  evidence  that  our 
conduct  of  life  or  solution  of  daily  problems  has  been  to 


INTRODUCTORY  SOCIAL   SCIENCE  175 

any  marked  extent  modified  by  what  we  learned  from  the 
history  we  studied  in  school. 

And  yet  we  have  undoubtedly  been  strengthened  as 
a  people  by  a  common  body  of  historical  knowledge, 
because  sympathy  is  based  upon  acquaintance  and  ac- 
quaintance consists,  in  part,  of  knowing  what  the  other 
man  or  the  rest  of  our  community  believes  and  accepts  as 
fact.  From  a  study  of  the  causes  that  have  impelled 
our  ancestors  to  certain  courses  of  action  we  may  be 
unconsciously  influenced  to  courses  of  action  today,  that 
we  believe  to  be  more  or  less  similar  to  and  in  agreement 
with  what  the  founders  of  our  nation  are  reported  to  have 
done. 

However,  it  is  at  least  worth  passing  notice  to  observe 
that  while  there  may  be  such  a  thing  as  the  history  of  a 
nation  or  a  history  of  the  world,  after  all  what  we  are 
able  to  study  in  text  books  of  history  is  not  history  it- 
self, but  rather  the  opinions  of  some  student  or  students 
of  the  past  as  to  what  once  happened  and  why  it  hap- 
pened. Even  upon  such  an  historical  struggle  as  the 
War  for  Independence  —  or  as  our  children  know  it  — 
the  Revolutionary  War  —  there  is  still  the  greatest  di- 
versity of  opinion  as  to  the  causes  of  that  war,  the  prog- 
re--  of  the  war  itself  and,  finally,  as  to  many  of  the 
results  accomplished.  If  wc  wish  substantiation  of  this 
disagreement,  we  have  but  to  compare  this  same  story 
in  the  text  books  used  in  America  with  those  used  for 
children  of  similar  ages  in  England.  The  more  indeed 
we  compare  even  the  various  text-books  us  d  in  our  own 
American  free  schools,  to  say  nothing  of  those  used  in 
England,  France,  Germany,  Italy  and  Russia,  the  more 
we  are  apt  to  lie  convinced  that  the  study  of  history,  in 
SO  far  as  it  concerns  school  children  at  least.  i>  not  a 
study  of  what  happened  in  the  past,  but  of  whal   some 


176  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL  IDEA 

man  (or  group  of  men)  believes  to  have  happened.  In- 
deed, if  we  can  follow  the  intricacies  of  the  expression, 
school-book  history  is  not  frequently  largely  built 
upon  the  author's  idea  of  what  he  believes  the  children 
of  his  nation  ought  to  be  taught  to  believe,  rather  than 
upon  any  idea  of  a  statement  of  causes  and  events  that 
would  meet  common  acceptance  from  all  who  might  be 
more  or  less  concerned. 

These  two  difficulties,  the  first  resulting  in  crowding 
our  school  text  books  and  our  school  courses  with  more 
historical  situations  than  any  child  can  possibly  be  ex- 
pected to  become  reasonably  acquainted  with  and  the 
second  resulting  in  teaching  that  kind  of  history  in  which 
the  author  is  personally  interested,  has  brought  our  school 
work  in  history  to  a  very  difficult  pass. 

There  is  still  some  comfort,  however,  in  finding  that 
practically  all  teachers  of  history  agree  in  believing 
that  the  final  result  of  a  child's  instruction  in  history 
should  be  a  better  understanding  of  the  present.  The 
difficulty  remains  in  a  selection  of  any  reasonable  number 
of  past  events  that  our  modern  American  historians  can 
agree  upon  as  pertinent  today. 

The  extreme  point  of  view  as  illustrated  by  some  spe- 
cialists in  history  might  be  summed  up  as  follows: 

"One  can  never  be  certain  what  knowledge  of  the  past 
will  be  pertinent  in  helping  us  to  solve  present  problems.  The 
knowledge  that  might  have  served  us  in  1921  may  not  be  at 
all  the  knowledge  that  will  serve  us  in  1925.  Therefore  the 
only  safe  course  is  to  teach  a  more  or  less  complete  history 
of  the  world  to  all." 

As  a  result  of  this  point  of  view  our  school  history  texts 
have  grown  from  two  hundred  to  five  hundred  pages 
and  the  end  is  not  yet.    A  generation  ago  our  American 


INTRODUCTORY  SOCIAL   SCIENCE  177 

school  texts  began  with  the  periods  of  exploration  and 
discovery,  took  up  the  period  of  colonization,  passed  on 
to  the  Revolution  and  hurried  to  the  Civil  War.  From 
a  child's  viewpoint,  it  was  a  military  history  almost  ex- 
clusively. The  people  of  America  seemed  to  us  to  be 
forever  fighting  and  so  nothing  aside  from  generals, 
campaigns  and  battles  seemed  to  us  as  pupils  greatly 
worth  while.  Recognition  of  the  fact  that  the  schools 
were  teaching  almost  exclusively  a  military  history  of 
America  and  of  the  United  States  seemed  finally  to 
have  been  the  cause  of  the  inclusion  of  other  points  of 
view  in  history  texts  —  so  without  omitting  much  that 
had  been  taught,  there  were  added  here  and  there  bits 
of  political,  industrial  and  even  economic  history,  that 
seemed  to  demand  attention.  Moreover,  a  generation  ago 
■we  were  far  more  separated  from  Europe  than  we  are  to- 
day and  our  children,  except  in  the  advanced  grades, 
were  required  to  study  little  of  what  had  happened  or 
was  happening  in  Europe  except  as  in  advanced  and 
specialized  courses  they  may  have  studied  the  History 
of  England  or  of  some  continental  nation.  Of  course 
in  the  colleges  we  studied  Greek  History  and  Roman 
History  for  culture,  but  rarely  below  the  college  except 
in  the  higher  high  school  years  of  the  "Classical  Course." 

Today  we  find  Ancient  History  required  in  many 
pre-grammar  grades  and  a  history  of  American  Begin- 
nings in  Europe  added  to  American  History  in  the 
elementary  school,  while  more  and  more  space  in  our 
school  text--  is  being  added  to  cover  the  development 
of  American  and  related  European  political  govern- 
ment, American  and  related  European  industrial  organ- 
ization, American  agricultural  extension,  etc.,  etc. 

At  this  point  let  us  for  the  time  leave  our  discussion 
of  American  school  book  history  suspended,  if  you  please, 


178  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

in  raid-air  in  order  to  consider  other  related  junior  high 
school  requirements  that  may  affect  our  final  judgment. 
Yet  as  we  leave  this  subject  for  the  moment,  let  us  carry 
with  us  the  conviction  that  in  this  current  year  we  could 
easily  find  grounds  for  teaching  in  our  junior  high  school 
an  Industrial  American  History,  a  Political  American 
History,  an  Economic  American  History  and  even  a 
History  of  American  Business  Organization  that  might 
possibly  find  at  least  as  much  present  day  justifica- 
tion and  so,  of  necessity,  for  each  as  many  added  pages 
of  school-book  space,  as  were  once  studied  by  our  fathers 
in  their  American  military  history. 

Geography 

Fortunately  for  our  youngsters,  the  study  of  geography 
does  not  seem  to  have  extended  itself  to  the  same  degree 
that  the  study  of  history  has  done  and  yet  even  here  the 
extension  has  been  enormous.  It  was  one  thing  to  have 
studied  American  geography  when  all  that  one  was  re- 
quired to  know  of  the  land  west  of  the  Mississippi  was 
that  there  were  prairies,  plains,  a  mountain  range,  a 
desert  and  some  mountains  on  the  Pacific  coast.  It  is 
quite  another  thing  to  study  this  same  region  in  the 
geography  of  today  that  tells  of  states,  cities,  industries 
and  occupations  west  of  the  Mississippi  that  are  quite 
as  important  to  an  understanding  of  American  geogra- 
phy as  much  or  all  of  what  our  fathers  studied  of  the 
Eastern  states.  More  and  more  the  waste  places  are 
being  made  fertile  and  with  every  extension  of  civiliza- 
tion our  study  of  geography  must  needs  advance  both 
in  quantity  and  in  quality  as  well. 

Once  we  might,  for  example,  study  a  river  by  knowing 
where  it  rose,  in  a  general  way  the  direction  in  which  it 


INTRODUCTORY   SOCIAL   SCIENCE  179 

flowed  and  into  what  body  of  salt  water  it  finally  emp- 
tied. Today  we  must  know  that  same  river  as  described 
by  the  character  of  its  current,  its  seasonal  volume,  its 
usefulness  to  commerce,  its  availability  for  water  power 
—  not  for  saw  mills  merely,  but  for  power  plants  to  en- 
ergize scores  of  important  industries  —  in  short,  the  en- 
ergy which  the  river  furnishes  to  the  various  towns  and 
cities  that  it  passes.  Then,  too,  the  river  may  have  its 
use  for  irrigation,  actual  or  projected,  to  say  nothing  of 
its  effect  upon  the  health  of  the  thousands  of  communi- 
ties it  passes  by  and  its  employment  as  in  Europe  for 
many  other  municipal  uses.  So  much  has  our  geography 
of  rivers  grown. 

In  much  the  same  way  a  city  that  might  once  have 
been  characterized  by  a  single  predominant  industry,  as 
we  may  have  studied  it  —  Philadelphia,  carpets  —  Chi- 
cago, meat  packing  —  New  Orleans,  sugar  —  may  now  be 
equally  important  for  a  dozen  or  more  other  industries 
that  have  grown  up  in  recent  years.  Without  exaggera- 
tion we  may,  when  we  consider  the  extension  of  the  study 
of  geography  today  as  compared  with  the  geography 
our  fathers  studied,  say  that  even  the  requirements  in 
geography  have  increased  a  thousand  per  cent.  Here  too 
we  meet  with  subdivisions  that  our  fathers  as  school 
children  rarely  considered.  Today  we  have  not  merely 
a  greatly  extended  political  geography  and  a  much  more 
scientific  physical  geography,  but  an  almost  wholly  new 
commercial,  industrial  and  even  economic  geography  to 
be  considered  as  well. 

More  and  more  the  conviction  has  been  growing  along 
with  the  growth  of  the  school  history  and  school  uvn^- 
raphy  that  for  the  sake  of  our  children  "something 
must  be  done  aboui  it,"  but  we  have  been  content  for  'he 
most  part  to  sit  on  the  side  lines  and  watch  the  struggle 


180  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

for  school  recognition  that  these  subjects  were  carrying 
on  with  other  studies  in  our  junior  high  school  program. 


Civics 

Added  to  our  greatly  increased  requirements  in  history 
and  geography,  a  third  related  subject  has  managed  to 
force  its  way  into  our  elementary  and  secondary  pro- 
gram of  studies.  Once  a  part  of  history,  our  new  subject, 
Civics,  has  of  later  years  been  claiming  more  and  more 
attention  as  a  subject  of  study  itself.  So  we  have  in 
many  elementary  and  high  schools  today  a  course  (or 
courses)  in  Civics  with  its  own  separate  requirements, 
its  own  sequential  graded  outline  and  its  own  increas- 
ingly divergent  point  of  view.  How  dull,  dry  and  un- 
motivated school-book  civics  of  the  past  once  was,  many 
of  us  can  testify  from  experience.  The  three  branches 
of  our  government  —  legislative,  judicial  and  executive 
—  often  had  the  same  degree  of  interest  for  us  chil- 
dren as  would  three  great  roots  of  an  overturned  stump 
wasting  away  from  dry  ret.  Indeed  in  our  lower  ele- 
mentary grades  where  this  new  subject  has  been  intro- 
duced in  many  school  systems,  the  natural  interest  of 
a  sixth-year  school  child  in  the  theory  or  practice  of  civil 
government  is  practically  non-existent.  Yet  because 
the  authorities  feel  it  to  be  none  the  less  something  that 
our  children  really  need  to  know,  we  are  insisting  that  it 
be  added  even  to  the  elementary  program  of  studies. 

Not  so,  however,  our  newest  accession  to  the  social 
science  group  —  Community  Civics  —  which  is  bound  to 
come  into  greater  and  greater  prominence  as  its  possi- 
bilities for  good  are  established  in  the  many  school 
systems  where  it  has  already  been  introduced. 

The  possibilities  of  making  more  appreciative  Amer- 


INTRODUCTORY   SOCIAL   SCIENCE  181 

ican  citizens  are  already  being  worked  out  in  practice. 
The  proponents  of  this  newest  course  are  asking  us  — 
"Is  it  not  possible  that  we  have  been  so  in  the  habit  of 
taking  the  good  things  our  local  communities  do  for  us, 
for  granted,  that  we  have  become  blind  on  one  side  and 
see  only  the  less  creditable  things  of  which  our  city 
governments  are  sometimes  guilty." 

Community  Civics  has  for  one  aim  teaching  us  to 
appreciate  the  blessings  we  enjoy  as  the  result  of  com- 
munity government.  We  accept  too  frequently  without 
thought  the  protection  of  our  lives  and  property.  The 
police,  the  firemen,  the  health  officers  rarely  receive 
their  due  because  we  cannot  even  imagine  what  life  would 
be  without  them.  We  turn  the  faucet  at  our  sink 
with  never  a  thought  of  the  tremendous  obstacles  that, 
had  to  be  overcome  by  community  action  to  give  us 
this  one  convenience. 

The  plagues  that  once  carried  off  millions  have  been 
almost  wiped  out,  without  our  ever  being  conscious  of  the 
never-ending  watchfulness  of  those  who  are  protecting  our 
community  health. 

Hinging  would  be  a  pleasant  death  in  contrast  to  the 
death  many  of  our  ultra-radicals  would  suffer  if  they 
themselves  were  simply  exempted  from  the  protection 
of  the  local  government  against  which  they  rage.  Indeed 
few  of  our  anarchists  would  live  to  inveigh  against  the 
governments  they  scorn  were  it  possible  for  them  to  ex- 
perience even  for  a  fortnight  entire  freedom  from  the 
protection  which  civil  government  throws  around  them 
through  their  every  living  moment. 

There  will  be  a  place  in  our  junior  high  school  pro- 
gram of  studios  for  Community  Civics  as  the  study  of 
u  h  it  we  owe  in  appreciation  to  those  who  have  managed 
our  civic  affairs  far  more  creditably  than  most  of  us 
adults  have  realized. 


182  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

Social  Science 

At  this  point  some  may  be  led  so  far  afield  by  possible 
false  deductions  from  our  earlier  discussions  as  to  won- 
der why  aside  from  community  civics  we  need  to  worry 
so  much  about  our  social  studies  at  all.  Let  history, 
geography  and  civics  fight  it  out,  they  say;  the  world 
will  keep  on  moving  and  the  schools  will  keep  open 
whether  we  have  one  or  all,  or  even  none  of  these  studies 
in  our  curriculum.  But  here  is  where  so  many  fail 
to  grasp  the  essential  necessity  of  these  same  subjects 
that  we  have  apparently  attacked. 

In  so  far  as  our  American  school  children  fail  to  be 
educated  in  enough  common  history,  geography  and 
civics  to  get  along  with  each  other  as  adults,  to  that 
extent  our  whole  national  organization  and  national 
civilization  is  weakened  or  imperilled.  The  time  was, 
in  the  development  of  the  human  race,  when  every 
stranger  was  an  enemy  and  the  little  tribe  or  clan  was 
unceasingly  at  war  with  its  strange  neighbors  across  the 
lake,  the  river  or  the  divide.  To  no  markedly  less 
extent  we  civilized  nations  of  today  are  still  ready  to 
fight  the  stranger,  but  with  this  great  difference,  that 
there  are  fewer  of  us  strangers  to  each  other  with 
each  succeeding  century.  If  we  hundred  million  souls 
in  the  United  States  of  America  can  live  together  in  more 
or  less  peace  and  harmony  among  ourselves,  it  is  largely 
because  we  have  a  common  body  of  knowledge,  a  common 
fund  of  accepted  tradition,  a  common  faith  in  our  fu- 
ture as  an  outgrowth  of  our  past.  In  so  far  as  we  locally 
quarrel  among  ourselves,  it  is  largely  because  we  do  not 
yet  fully  understand  each  other,  because  on  one  or  both 
sides  there  is  ignorance  of  the  history,  geography  and 
civics  in  which  the  other  side  believes. 


INTRODUCTORY  SOCIAL  SCIENCE  183 

If  we  are  to  have  a  United  States  of  America  free 
from  civil  strife  and  civil  war,  we  must  have  our  children 
trained  from  their  earliest  adolescent  school  days  in  that 
body  of  social  knowledge  that  will  best  enable  them  to 
live  together  as  adults  in  sympathy,  harmony  and  friend- 
ship. And  equally  we  must  have  as  teachers  of  these 
subjects  men  and  women  who  are  teaching  what  they  be- 
lieve in  their  very  souls  as  necessary  and  undebatable. 
There  is  no  possibility  of  our  children  learning  from 
a  contentious  quarreler  how  to  get  along  with  one's 
neighbors,  unless  by  very  contrast  the  children  are  led 
to  seek  the  better  path.  Neither  are  we  as  yet  com- 
pelled to  open  in  our  junior  high  schools  laboratories  for 
the  testing  of  new  social  theories  upon  confessedly 
debatable  topics.  Not  for  a  moment  that  all  this  test- 
ing and  trying  is  not  vitally  important  to  our  national 
and  world  progress,  but  rather  that  in  our  junior  high 
schools  we  are  scarcely  warranted  in  experimenting  with 
our  children's  happiness  to  such  an  extent  as  this  may 
entail.  If,  however,  we  can  first  teach  our  children  the 
art  and  the  science  of  "getting  along  with  each  other," 
we  shall  have  less  reason  to  fear  that  they  will  ever  fly 
at  each  other'  s  throat  'to  settle  some  new  problem  that 
may  present  itself  when  they  have  grown  up. 

So,  for  our  junior  high  school  we  propose  a  new  study 
at  each  other's  throat  to  settle  some  new  problem  that 
or  some  older  studies  revamped  —  not  history,  not  geog- 
raphy, not  civics  —  but  so  much  of  each  of  these  sub- 
ject- as  will  best  fit  our  children  to  get  along  with  each 
other  when  they  become  in  time  the  men  and  women  of 
their  generation.  Call  this,  if  you  please,  Introductory 
Social  Science,  but  let  it  be  understood  that  it  means  in 
homely  language,  "The  art  and  the  science  of  getting  along 
with  each  other,"  whether  "each  other"  includes  one  city, 
state  and  nation,  or  extends  to  distant  shores. 


184  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

With  this  as  a  criterion  much  of  the  over-burdened 
courses  in  the  older  social  subjects  will  be  cut  down  to 
something  nearer  the  possibility  of  reasonable  achieve- 
ment. What  do  we  need  to  know  about  the  explorers  and 
discoverers  to  get  along  better  with  our  neighbors  of 
today?  Assuredly  something,  but  possibly  not  all  that 
our  children  have  been  asked  to  learn.  What  do  we 
need  to  know  about  the  war  of  the  Revolution?  Per- 
haps less  about  the  campaigns  and  generals  and  more 
about  the  political,  civic  and  industrial  situation  of  that 
time.  WThat  do  we  need  to  know  about  the  Mexican  war? 
Assuredly  much  more  of  some  things  that  our  histories 
have  been  willing  to  tell.  What  do  we  need  to  know 
about  the  campaigns  of  the  Civil  War?  Just  so  much 
as  will  enable  us  to  live  in  greater  sympathy,  added 
harmony  and  more  lasting  friendship  with  the  men  and 
women  whose  fathers  fought  ours  over  half  a  century  ago. 

If  New  Hampshire  and  New  Mexico,  different  as  they 
are  in  location,  climate,  soil  and  industries,  still  feel 
themselves  brothers  in  a  great  national  family,  it  is  in 
part  because  in  each  state  the  children  in  the  schools  and 
those  who  were  once  children  in  school  have  studied  in 
their  geographies  the  climate,  the  soil,  the  industrial  con- 
ditions, that  each  must  contend  with,  so  that  the  news 
from  one  state  reaching  the  other  enables  each  in  turn 
at  once  to  put  himself  in  the  other  fellow's  place  and  to 
experience  in  sympathetic  imagination  the  same  feelings, 
the  same  emotions  that  the  one  affected  really  experi- 
ences. So  it  is,  in  countless  ways,  that  geography  as 
a  study  of  how  our  neighbors  live,  makes  not  only  our 
world  larger  but  our  hearts  as  well. 

Finally,  Civics  as  a  study  of  how  people  get  along 
together  under  a  common  government  in  smaller  or 
larger  communities  must  be  included  in  any  such  course 


INTRODUCTORY  SOCIAL  SCIENCE  185 

in  Social  Science  as  we  would  plan.  Even  as  we  study 
this  chapter,  courses  in  municipal  cooperative  enterprise 
—  Community  Civics  —  are  rising  into  national  prom- 
inence as  worthy  subjects  for  school  study.  One  pur- 
pose of  many  such  a  course  is  to  unify  and  solidify  the 
school  children  of  the  community  by  educating  them 
upon  matters  of  their  common  interest,  showing  them  to 
what  a  tremendous  degree  they  are  co-partners  in  the 
huge  business  of  living  together  in  peace  and  comfort. 

As  in  our  newer  junior  high  school  mathematics,  we 
no  longer  leave  for  possible  college  instruction  simple 
mathematical  conceptions  that  may  be  appreciated  and 
employed  now,  even  though  these  conceptions  were  once 
classed  solely  as  a  part  of  mathematical  knowledge 
that  even  many  college  students  did  not  attempt  to  study, 
so  in  our  newer  social  science  we  shall  choose  from  the 
higher  fields  of  civil  government,  economics  and  finance 
such  simple  conceptions  as  are  in  themselves  signifi- 
cant and  within  our  junior  high  school  children's  mental 
reach. 

In  every  case  our  basis  for  selecting  one  fact  and 
passing  over  another,  for  studying  one  movement  and 
barely  mentioning  another  will  be  the  value  of  the  fact 
or  the  movement  as  an  aid  to  our  present  problem  of 
"getting  along  with  each  other." 

The  specialist  in  history,  geography  or  civics  will 
still  have  his  university  courses  into  which  he  may  delve 
for  his  own  personal  satisfaction,  or  for  the  better  ulti- 
mate guidance  of  us  all.  The  school  boy,  however,  will 
not  be  asked  to  study  history,  geography  or  civics  as 
the  specialist,  but  rather  as  the  man  on  the  street  who 
wishes  to  live  in  peace  and  harmony  with  his  neighbors 
across  the  street,  across  the  divide,  across  the  ocean. 


186  THE  JUNIOR  HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 


QUESTIONS 

1.  In  what  ways  does  the  Geography  which  I  studied  differ 

from  that  which  I  may  be  called  upon  to  teach  today? 

2.  What  have  our  writers  of  American  history  text-books  been 

conspicuously  unable  to  decide  upon? 

3.  What  type  of  history  has  been  predominant  in  our  Amer- 

ican text-books? 

4.  What  concrete  and  immediate  value  may  a  study  of  Com- 

munity Civics  have  for  any  junior  high  school  pupils? 

5.  What  basis  of  selection  of  facts  and  movements  to  be  studied 

(and  to  be  omitted)  do  I  propose? 

6.  What  arguments  can  I  advance  for  this  basis'? 

7.  Taking  a  modern  text  book  of  history  proposed  for  use  in 

the  seventh,  eighth,  or  ninth  school  year,  can  I  classify, 
on  the  basis  I  selected,  its  teachings  as  pertinent  or  in- 
significant  for  the  following  periods : 

(a)  Exploration  and  discovery? 

(b)  Colonial  wars? 

(c)  The  War  for  Independence? 

(d)  Framing  our  constitution,  etc.,  etc9 

8.  What  present-day  problems  can  I  name  which  may  be  better 

settled  if  our  study  of  history  —  geography  —  civics  — 
is  given  a  new  purpose? 


CHAPTER   XI 

TEACHING   THE   APPRECIATION   OF    ART   IN 
THE   JUNIOR  HIGH   SCHOOL 

If  by  art  in  the  junior  high  school,  we  understand 
not  simply  Drawing  and  Design,  but  the  art  and  prac- 
tice of  Music  as  well,  we  may  group  them  in  a  single 
chapter  for  purposes  of  discussion. 

In  the  first  place,  let  us  admit  that  not  one  in  ten 
thousand,  or  possibly  not  in  one  hundred  thousand,  of 
our  pupils  will  ever  become  an  "artist"  in  the  narrower 
sense  in  which  that  word  may  be  used.  Such  students 
as  may  show  unusual  talent  or  promise  of  superior 
achievement  in  these  lines  of  endeavor  must  be  expected 
to  get  even  their  earliest  professional  training  elsewhere. 
However,  we  may  be  within  the  probabilities  if  we  main- 
tain that  at  least  one  in  ten  of  our  students  may  be 
taught  to  enjoy  and  appreciate  the  art  of  others  and  so 
to  enrich  and  to  beautify  his  own  life,  after  school 
instruction  is  a  thing  of  the  past. 

To  be  sure  some  form  of  drawing  as  a  convenient  means 
of  communication  or  record  may  be  used  by  almost  any 
boy  after  his  leaving  us,  but  this  is  not  an  Art,  nor  any- 
thing approaching  art  as  we  are  using  this  word.  If  our 
guide  is  to  be  the  selection  of  "the  things  that  our  junior 
high  school  boys  will  do  anyway,"  we  may  be  fairly 
safe  in  leaving  the  idea  of  making  our  pupils  "artists" 
as  one  that  may  be  eliminated  at  the  start  from  the  aims 
of  our  junior  high  school  curriculum. 

187 


188  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

The  difficulty  in  this  elimination  is,  however,  very 
real.  Ir  most  of  our  courses  of  study,  whether  for 
state  or  city  adoption,  the  educational  authorities,  feeling 
their  own  shortcomings  in  the  field  of  art,  have  called 
in  those  who  really  were,  or  who  aspired  to  become, 
artists  in  the  higher  meaning  of  that  term.  As  a  result, 
our  courses  have  been  too  frequently  planned  by  those 
who  outlined  work  which  they  as  mature  artists  be- 
lieved either  had  been,  or  might  have  been,  directly  help- 
ful to  them  as  children  in  school.  So,  while  all  of  the 
proposed  course  may  seem  natural,  interesting  and  un- 
speakably simple  to  the  artist  who  plans  it,  the  chances 
are  not  small  that  much,  if  not  all,  of  this  course  will 
seem  to  the  average  youngster  that  approaches  it  un- 
natural, uninteresting  and  unspeakably  difficult. 

Though  it  may  be  that  some  artists,  recognizing  the 
true  situation,  have  attempted  to  plan  courses  in  the 
appreciation  of  art  for  adolescents,  the  final  resulting 
course  has  not,  after  all,  been  greatly  modified.  Even 
the  appreciation  of  art  as  seen  by  an  artist  is  a  highly 
technical  and  specialized  ability,  which  requires  techni- 
cal and  specialized  training  and  so  an  approach  to  Art 
Appreciation  is  often  planned  that  might  approximate 
in  difficulty  trying  to  teach  a  two  year  old  to  talk  by 
instructing  him  in  the  rules  of  English  grammar. 

If  our  pupils  are  to  learn  to  appreciate  and  so  to  en- 
joy the  beautiful  paintings,  the  beautiful  statues,  the 
beautiful  buildings  that  they  may  later  have  the  op- 
portunity of  seeing,  or  to  enjoy  the  beautiful  music 
that  they  may  later  have  the  opportunity  of  hearing, 
some  of  us  may  feel  that  they  should  be  led  toward 
this  enjoyment  by  being  given  the  opportunity  to  de- 
velop it  in  the  presence  of  the  things  they  later  may  be 
led  to  love.    Indeed  some  mav  believe  that  children  can 


TEACHING  THE  APPRECIATION  OF  ART   189 

gain  an  appreciation  of  the  beautiful  in  art  by  being 
brought  constantly  in  contact  with  it,  in  much  the  same 
way  as  a  child  learns  to  speak  by  constantly  hearing 
his  parents'  v-nd  playmates'  conversation. 

Thorndike  in  his  Educational  Psychology  has  em- 
phasized the  value  for  citizenship,  of  training  our  chil- 
dren in  what  he  calls  the  unselfish  pleasures  of  life. 
Chief  among  these  unselfish  pleasures  comes  the  en- 
joyment of  great  works  of  art.  When  one  enjoys  a 
dish  of  well-prepared  food  he  eats  it  and  destroys  its 
possibility  of  furnishing  enjoyment  for  others,  but  when 
one  enjoys  a  great  painting  his  own  enjoyment  is  in- 
creased rather  than  diminished  by  knowing  that  per- 
haps a  million  other  people  have  feasted  their  eyes 
as  he  is  feasting  his.  And  so  indeed  a  miracle  appears, 
for  each  observer  takes  away  in  turn  something  he  did 
not  have  before,  yet  leaves  the  source  of  his  new  treasure 
wholly  undiminished.  Yes,  even  more,  for  the  real 
lover  of  art  has  his  own  pleasure  increased  almost  directly 
in  proportion  to  the  number  who  enjoy  the  master- 
piece with  him.  So  it  is  that  our  real  art  lovers  who  have 
the  means  to  gratify  their  love  of  beauty  no  longer 
lock  up  their  treasures  in  their  private  homes,  but  in  the 
public  museums,  or  in  other  suitable  places,  permit  the 
one  who  wills  to  come  and  share  the  emotions  that  the 
old  master  can  call  forth.  Only  the  man  or  woman  of 
warped  spirit,  or  without  real  art  appreciation  in  his 
being,  locks  up  the  masterpiece  he  may  be  able  to  secure, 
and  if  he  does  this  we  may  be  sure  that  his  interest  in 
the  treasure  is  almost  wholly  in  the  advertising  power 
that  comes  to  him  as  its  owner,  and  that  a  bent  pin,  if 
similarly  priced  and  equally  well  known,  would  be  as 
much  appreciated. 

So  since  the  art  treasures  of  the  world  are  being  more 


190  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

and  more  brought  within  the  possibility  of  enjoyment 
by  one  and  all,  the  probabilities  are  that  more  and  more 
of  our  pupils,  as  one  of  "the  things  they  will  do  anyway" 
will  see  treasures  of  art  which  may  add  greatly  to  their 
happiness  as  men  and  women  if  only  they  themselves 
have  developed  the  capacity  to  enjoy  them. 

Not  so  very  different  are  the  possibilities  in  music, 
though  necessarily  more  limited.  Those  that  can  both 
see  and  hear  the  masters  of  the  human  voice,  or  of  the 
violin,  or  of  the  great  stringed  orchestra,  are  a  thousand 
times  the  numbers  of  a  century  ago.  Where  once  these 
living  masters  delighted  only  the  royal  courts,  today 
the  crowded  theatres,  or  opera  houses,  permit  thousands 
upon  thousands  to  hear  each  year  the  master  of  his  art. 
And  indeed,  however  much  we  may  shock  the  refinements 
of  the  over  sensitive,  we  must  include  too  the  possibility 
of  those  mechanical  devices  that  reproduce  to  a  certain 
extent  the  human  voice  or  human  touch.  However 
much  the  connoisseur  may  sneer  at  "canned  music" 
many  of  us  are  fortunately  still  not  upon  so  lofty 
a  plane  that  we  cannot  enjoy  Caruso  upon  the  phono- 
graph or  Paderewski  upon  the  player  piano.  Much  less 
for.  the  while  are  our  junior  high  school  pupils  beyond 
the  possibilities  of  such  enjoyment. 

From  such  an  introduction  as  we  have  made  together, 
it  may  be  possible  for  us  to  plan  our  junior  high  school 
work  in  art  to  give  to  each  young  student  in  our  class 
some  inkling  at  least  of  the  pleasures  of  art  apprecia- 
tion and  to  start  him  upon  the  road  to  the  enjoyment 
of  the  unselfish  pleasures  he  may  both  get  and  share. 

Pictorial   Art 
In  order  that  we  may  not  confuse  the  rudimentary 


TEACHING   THE   APPRECIATION   OF   ART       191 

instruction  in  perspective  that  may  be  on  our  printed 
course  of  study  with  the  larger  possibilities  of  art  ap- 
preciation, would  it  not  be  well  for  at  least  one  year 
of  our  three  to  put  no  pencil  to  paper  save  as  the  inner 
impulse  urged  us  to  draw? 

With  different  schools  a  different  year  may  be  se- 
lected, but  all  in  all,  the  first  junior  high  school  year 
seems  the  best  to  those  that  have  been  experimenting 
with  this  work. 

To  be  sure,  if  the  higher  schools  would  grant  credit 
for  a  year  of  art  appreciation,  we  might  prefer  to  put 
this  field  work  later  in  our  course,  possibly  in  the  ninth 
school,  or  third  junior  high  school  year,  but  because 
there  is  as  yet  no  such  opportunity  for  us,  we  may  only 
select  a  year  that  belongs  to  us  alone.  Therefore  we  are 
almost  compelled  to  select  for  the  time  being  our  first 
junior  high  school  year  unless  we  are  willing  to  handicap 
our  pupils  by  giving  them  work  in  Art  which,  while  it 
may  be  better  in  the  highest  sense,  is  not  so  helpful  in 
meeting  the  requirements  that  lie  just  ahead. 

For  the  first  junior  high  school  year  then  we  propose 
to  have  no  drawing  in  the  class  room,  but  to  use  our 
drawing  period  for  actually  seeing  (even  if  not  at  first 
enjoying)  the  great  works  of  art  that  may  be  brought 
to  us  in  pictures  if  we  indeed  cannot  always  go  to  them. 

At  Speyer  School,  with  the  treasures  of  a  great  city 
within  reach,  our  two  successive  periods  of  drawing 
are  used  for  Art  Appreciation  in  the  field.  Great  paint- 
ings may  be  seen  at  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art; 
classic  statues  may  be  seen  there  too.  The  treasures  of 
the  goldsmith,  the  potter  and  the  weaver  may  also 
be  used  in  the  attempt  to  awaken  appreciation.  Always 
the  instructor  leads  the  way.  No  trip  is  taken  on  im- 
pulse or  without  due  preparation.     The  period  of  prep- 


192  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

aration  may  be  taken  occasionally  from  time  in  English 
composition,  but  more  often  on  the  ground  itself  to  dis- 
cuss quite  carefully  what  is  to  be  seen  and  why.  In  rainy 
or  inclement  weather,  and  it  takes  a  real  storm  indeed 
to  keep  our  boys  at  home,  the  school  stereopticon  with 
slides  loaned  by  the  Museum,  or  by  the  State  Depart- 
ment of  Visual  Instruction,  is  used  to  bring  to  the  school 
objects  of  art  that  may  have  value  for  our  work.  Not 
only  in  the  Museum  which  is  our  chief  treasure  trove,  but 
in  the  historic  mansions,  now  city  owned,  the  children 
may  see  the  work  of  Sheraton  or  Heppelwhite  in  fur- 
niture and  gain  perhaps  some  suggestion  of  the  possibili- 
ties of  art  enjoyment  even  in  furnishing  and  decorat- 
ing one's  simple  home. 

Even  from  the  street  one  may  see  beautiful  buildings, 
planned  by  great  artist-architects,  and  so  learn  to  recog- 
nize that  even  a  building  may  be  a  thing  of  beauty  and 
so  become  a  joy  forever  to  the  one  whose  eyes  can  see 
the  harmony  it  portrays. 

At  this  point  there  may  be  some  who  will  insist  that 
we  can  teach  beauty  only  by  teaching  ugliness  as  well 
and  to  a  certain  extent  this  may  be  true.  However,  with 
our  junior  high  school  pupils  there  need  be  little  fear 
that  they  will  reach  any  such  high  point  of  art  appreci- 
ation as  will  make  them  so  appreciative  of  the  enduring 
things  of  art  as  to  be  caused  unhappiness  and  suffering 
by  the  less  beautiful  or  even  the  ugly  things  they  may 
be  forced  to  see.  And  yet  to  the  extent  to  which  all  our 
adolescent  boys  and  girls  are  led  to  avoid  the  ugly,  or 
even  to  prefer  the  beautiful,  we  have  added  something 
not  only  to  their  lives,  but  to  the  beauty  of  America 
itself  a  generation  hence.    • 

At  the  end  of  our  first  year,  convention  and  the  de- 
mands of  the  higher  schools  may  cause  us  to  return  to 


•      TEACHING   THE   APPRECIATION   OF   ART        193 

the  routine  lessons  with  pencil,  crayon,  or  brush,  but 
the  impulse  to  prefer  the  beautiful  and  an  awakening 
appreciation  of  beauty  may  make  this  routine  work 
far  more  interesting  and  more  successful  than  otherwise 
would  have  been  possible. 

For  all  this  work  it  may  be  seen  a  teacher  with  a 
highly  specialized  ability  is  required.  If  we  were  free 
to  choose  such  a  teacher  from  an  open  field,  let  us  con- 
fess we  would  go  slow  in  engaging  an  "artist"  or  even  an 
aspirant  to  such  distinction,  but  would  prefer  to  select 
one  who  possessed  herself  what  we  wish  our  pupils  to 
secure,  the  enjoyment  and  appreciation  of  the  art  of 
others.  Without  being  at  all  humorous  we  might  propose 
some  psychological  tests  that  would  help  us  to  discover 
the  teacher  that  we  need.  Find  the  individual  that 
would  prefer  visiting  the  Museum  of  Art  to  attending 
some  social  function,  whose  own  dress  and  belongings 
show  uniformly  good  taste,  who  does  not  gush  in  the 
presence  of  a  masterpiece,  but  is  silent,  trying  if  at  all, 
still  in  vain  to  find  words  to  express,  or  to  explain,  the 
satisfaction,  she  secures.  Such  a  one,  though  she  never 
yet  had  touched  crayon  to  paper,  or  brush  to  canvas, 
might  still  give  promise  of  being  the  one  of  most  value 
to  us  in  this  new  line  of  work. 

"Similarly  in  Music,  the  man  or  woman  who  will  deny 
himself  the  food  he  needs  to  save  up  money  to  hear  a 
great  virtuoso  or  soloist,  gives  promise  of  being  better 
able  to  help  us  in  teaching  the  appreciation  of  good  mu- 
sic, vocal  or  instrumental,  than  the  one  who  sang  with  his 
college  glee  club  or  gives  lessons  upon  the  piano. 

Of  course  when  one  is  entering  a  new  field  and  this 
matter  of  teaching  Appreciation  is  a  new  field,  although 
for  years  it  may  have  appeared  in  various  printed  courses 
of  study,  it  is  well  to  avoid  being  too  positive  in  matters 
of  this  kind  and  yet  it  may  do  us  no  harm  to  recognize 


194  THE  JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL  IDEA 

that  possibly  some  present  teacher  of  Latin,  mathematics, 
or  history  may  be  the  one  best  fitted  to  conduct  these 
appreciation  courses  in  our  junior  high  school. 


APPRECIATION   IN   MUSIC 

As  field  work  in  Art  Appreciation  replaces  for  one  year 
the  usual  class  room  instruction,  so  in  Music  for  one-third 
at  least  of  our  junior  high  school  course,  Music  Appre- 
ciation replaces  the  conventional  drill  in  sight  reading 
and  part  singing,  but  with  one  difference.  Our  work 
in  the  appreciation  of  good  music  is  and  must  be  carried 
along  with  actual  class  room  work,  taking  a  part  of  each 
day's,  week's,  or  month's  work  as  the  work  to  be  studied 
best  adapts  itself.  But  certainly  some  part  of  every  fort- 
night at  most  should  be  devoted  to  Music  Appreciation. 

It  may  not  be  time  misspent  to  consider  in  a  little 
more  concrete  way  than  earlier  in  our  chapter,  some  of 
the  actual  selections  that  might  be  used. 

In  the  first  place  since  most  of  our  pupils  cannot  at- 
tend grand  opera,  we  must  bring  the  opera  into  the  mu- 
sic room  in  story  and  on  phonograph  records,  helping 
occasionally,  perhaps  with  the  piano,  to  isolate  or  em- 
phasize the  finer  points  of  theme  or  melody. 

For  our  year's  wTork  we  may  rest  content  if  our  pupils 
are  able  to  tell  the  stories  and  recognize  the  principal  or 
best  known  orchestral  or  vocal  selections  of  each  of  eight 
or  ten  operas,  such  as  Carmen,  Lucia  di  Lammermoor, 
Martha,  Faust,  II  Trovatore.  Aida,  Tannhauser,  Lo- 
hengrin, La  Boheme,  Pagliacci.  In  addition,  we  might 
require  the  recognition  of  one  or  more  selections  from 
operas  that  might  not  be  known  in  their  entirety,  as  the 
Overture  from  William  Tell,  the  Overture  from  Fra 
Diavolo,  the  Waltz  Song  from  Romeo  and  Juliet,  the 


TEACHING   THE   APPRECIATION   OF   ART       195 

Intermezzo  from  Cavalleria  Rusticana,  the  Coronation 
March  from  The  Prophet,  the  Duke's  Song  from  Rigo- 
letto,  the  prize  song  from  The  Meistersinger  and  possibly 
selected  motifs  from  The  Ring  of  the  Niebelung.  Finally, 
we  might  make  a  list  of  songs  or  selections  "that  every 
one  should  know"  and  use  the  phonograph  or  piano  to 
bring  the  pupils  and  the  music  together.  Such  a  list 
might  resemble  to  some  extent,  the  Music  Memory  List 
used  in  the  New  York  City  schools: 

Musetta's    Song  —  La    Boheme Puccini 

Caro    Nome  —  Rigoletto Verdi 

My  Heart  at  Thy  Sweet  Voice  — 

Samson    and    Delilah Saint    Saens 

Trio  —  Prison  Scene  —  Faust Gounod 

Barcarolle  —  Tales  of  Hoffman Offenbach 

Intermezzo  —  Cavalleria  Rusticana .  .  Mascagni 

Meditation  —  Thais Massenet 

Triumphal  March  —  Aida Verdi 

Dagger    Dance  —  Natoma Herbert 

Anvil  Chorus  —  II  Trovatore Verdi 

Miserere  —  II    Trovatore Verdi 

Toreador  Song  —  Carmen Bizet 

Soldiers'  Chorus  —  Faust Gounod 

Minuet  —  Don   Giovanni Mozart 

Sextet  —  Lucia   Donizetti 

Quartet  —  Rigoletto    Verdi 

Overture  —  William   Tell Rossini 

Lift  Thine  Eyes  —  Elijah Mendelssohn 

With  Verdure  Clad  —  Creation Haydn 

And  the  Glory  of  the  Lord — Messiah  Handel 

Ave  Maria Bach-Gounod 

Hallelujah  Chorus  —  Messiah Handel 

Andante  —  Fifth  Symphony Beethoven 

Theme  —  New  World  Symphony ....  Dvorak 

Andante  —  Surprise   Symphony Haydn 

First  Movement  —  "Unfinished  Sym- 
phony"   Schubert 

Spring   Song Mendelssohn 


196  THE  JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

Salut   D'Amour Elgar 

To  a  Wild  Rose MacDowell 

Narcissus Nevin 

Humoresque   Dvorak 

Morning .....] 

Anitra's  Dance \  n  . 

Grieg 


In  the  Hall  of  the  Mountain  King. 

Ase's  Death J 

Hungarian  Rhapsody  No.  2 Liszt 

Wedding  March Mendelssohn 

March  of  the  Toys Herbert 

Nocturne  in  E  Flat Chopin 

Minuet  in  A Boccherini 

Marche  Militaire Schubert 

Dream  of  Love Liszt 

Chant  Sans  Paroles Tschaikowsky 

Minute  Waltz Chopin 

Largo Handel 

Cavatina   Raff 

Elegie Massenet 


National  Songs 

Hail  Columbia American  Patriotic  Song 

Men  of  Harlech Welsh  Patriotic  Song 

Rule  Britannia English  Patriotic  Song 

La  Marseillaise French  Patriotic  Song 

La  Brabanconne Belgian  Patriotic  Song 

Garibaldi   Hymn Italian  Patriotic  Song 


American  Songs 

From  the  Land  of  the  Sky  Blue 

Water   Cadman 

The  Year's  at  the  Spring Beach 

Mighty  Lak  a  Rose Nevin 

0  Promise  Me DeKoven 

Carry  Me  Back  to  Old  Virginny Bland 

Come  Where  Mv  Love  Lies 


TEACHING   THE   APPRECIATION   OF   ART        197 

Dreaming Foster 

Swing  Low  Sweet  Chariot Negro  Spiritual 

Flow  Gently  Sweet  Afton Spilman 

Deep  River Negro  Spiritual 

Miscellaneous  Songs 

Sweet  and  Low Barnby 

The  Lost  Chord Sullivan 

Love's  Old  Sweet  Song Molloy 

Hark!   Hark!   The  Lark Schubert 

Who  is  Sylvia Schubert 

Home  Sweet  Home Bishop 


Our  method  of  work  would  be  to  tell  the  story  and 
play  the  records  of  each  of  the  selections,  not  once  but 
over  and  over  again  on  different  days,  until  the  pupils 
became  able  to  recognize  each  selection,  tell  the  com- 
poser, the  opera  and  the  setting  of  the  selection  itself. 

Securing  the  records  may  not  always  be  a  simple  mat- 
ter. Of  course  the  school  should  own  its  records  just  as 
much  as  it  should  own  its  music  books  and  its  piano,  but 
school  boards  are  apt  to  regard  the  phonograph  records 
still  as  "fads  and  frills"  and  force  us  to  depend  upon  the 
good  will  of  our  pupils'  parents  to  loan  us  the  records 
for  any  one  performance  and  such  parents  are  not  few. 
Many  who  may  otherwise  hesitate  to  loan  records  will 
do  so  if  a  deposit  in  full  is  left  to  guard  against  a  pos- 
sible injury  to  any  record,  while  in  some  cities  and  towns 
the  local  agent  will  bring  the  records  and  play  them 
himself  for  the  sake  of  the  advertising  he  gets  from  the 
performance. 

After  all,  not  a  great  variety  of  records  but  great 
versatility  on  the  part  of  the  teacher  is  what  is  most 
needed.  It  may  be  possible  for  a  skillful  teacher  to 
build  the  entire  story  of  II  Trovatore  around  two  or  three 


198  THE   JUNIOR    HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

songs  and  to  interest  all  in  the  music  and  the  story  of 
Aida  by  using  only  the  triumphal  march  and  the  final 
duet.  Other  things  being  equal,  the  more  good  records 
i  hat  can  be  supplied  for  any  opera,  the  better,  but  the 
finest  collection  that  can  be  secured  anywhere,  will  not 
replace  the  teacher's  work,  if  the  teacher  himself  really 
appreciates  good  music. 

QUESTIONS 

1.  Can  the  junior  high  school  attempt  to  train  artists?     On 

what  do  we  base  our  reply? 

2.  Why,  as  a  rule,  cannot  an  artist  himself  plan  a  good  course 

for  adolescents? 

3.  What  are  some  of  the  unselfish  pleasures  of  life  and  why 

are  they  so  called? 

4.  What  is  the  modern  tendency  in  the  ownership  of  master- 

pieces of  art  and  how  does  this  affect  our  junior  high 
school  work? 

5.  What  opportunities  does  my  own  neighborhood  offer  for 

teaching  the  Appreciation  of  Art  ? 

6.  Wh.it  teaching  of  appreciation  may  be  independent  of  my 

own  locality? 

7.  What  should  be  the  basic  requirement  for  a  teacher  of  Art 

Appreciation? 


CHAPTER  XII 

PHYSICAL  TRAINING,   BODILY   HEALTH   AND 
CHARACTER   BUILDING 

One  often  hears  in  any  discussion  of  the  place  of 
Physical  Training  in  our  junior  high  schools  that  the 
Great  War  showed  the  people  of  America  the  need  of 
giving  more  attention  in  school  to  the  physical  condition 
of  school  children.  Of  the  young  men  included  in  the 
selective  draft  an  astonishingly  large  percentage  proved 
"physically  unfit"  to  a  greater  or  lesser  degree  —  rang- 
ing from  flat  foot  or  defective  teeth  to  more  serious 
systemic  disorders  that  made  them  wholly  unavailable 
for  the  rigors  of  military  service  and  to  a  less  extent  for 
the  struggle  for  existence  in  any  form  of  useful  endeavor. 

To  how  great  a  degree  these  physical  defects  could 
have  been  remedied  or  cured  in  school  by  corrective  ex- 
ercises and  instruction  in  habits  of  hygienic  living  is  still 
an  open  question.  There  is,  however,  grave  doubt  in  the 
minds  of  most  students  of  education  as  to  the  possibility 
of  making  any  marked  progress  toward  the  physical  per- 
fection of  school  children  until  there  occurs  something 
approaching  a  right  about  face  on  the  part  of  college 
professors,  superintendents  of  schools  and  boards  of 
education  everywhere. 

As  we  have  often  acknowledged,  though  sometimes 
grudgingly,  the  question  of  college  entrance  require- 
ments affects  to  a  very  marked  degree  even  ele- 
mentary school  instruction.    According  to  our  American 

199 


200  THE  JUNIOR  HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

ideals  of  equality  of  opportunity,  we  are  more  or  less 
obliged  to  consider  every  school  child  a  potential  uni- 
versity student  and  in  our  school  work  we  must  be  very 
careful  to  close  no  doors  of  educational  advancement  to 
any  child  even  when  we  know  that  possibly  not  more 
than  one  in  ten  thousand  will  follow  the  path  of  school 
and  college  instruction  to  its  completion.  Therefore  un- 
til the  colleges  give  decidedly  more  credit,  in  their  sixteen 
or  so  "counts"  or  "credits"  for  admission,  to  the  healthy, 
well-developed  youth  as  contrasted  with  the  sickly  and 
under-nourished  one,  it  is  useless  to  expect  the  high  school 
to  be  as  much  concerned  about  its  pupils'  physical  condi- 
tion as  it  is  with  "conditions"  in  mathematics,  English, 
science  or  history. 

Were  the  colleges  to  give  four  entrance  credits  to  a 
course  in  physical  training  and  hygienic  living  that 
would  be  in  part  measured  by  the  applicant's  own  bodily 
condition  at  entrance,  what  a  wonderful  change  we  should 
experience  in  our  own  attitude  toward  our  pupils'  physi- 
cal welfare.  Not  that  we  would  ever  bar  from  edu- 
cational advancement  those  whose  misfortune  it  was  to 
be  crippled  for  we  are  not  discussing  actual  cripples,  but 
that  evidence  of  vigorous  health  would  be  accepted  as  at 
least  some  prophecy  of  the  pupil's  fitness  to  use  his  ad- 
vanced training  in  a  sane  and  healthy  way  for  the  bene- 
fit of  the  nation  that  helped  to  educate  him.  Would 
it  not  be  interesting  to  note  the  new-born  solicitude  of 
the  examiner  in  many  worth-while  things  that  are  now 
overlooked  and  would  it  not  be  an  altogether  worthy 
and  commendable  solicitude? 

As  yet  to  be  very  frank  with  ourselves  how  many  of  us, 
teachers  in  elementary  and  high  schools,  are  ourselves 
sufficiently  fit  to  pass  a  rigid  examination  for  military 
service?  How  many  of  us  are  sufficiently  acquainted  with 


PHYSICAL    TRAINING,    CHARACTER    BUILDING      201 

the  scientific  regimen  of  health  culture  to  be  able  to  give 
our  pupils  daily  training  in  habits  that  will  correct  their 
individual  tendencies  toward  physical  unfitness  in  so 
great  a  variety  of  forms?  It  is  hardly  to  be  expected 
that  men  and  women  who  have  passed  through  high 
school  and  training  school  or  college  practically  un- 
touched by  any  worth-while  instruction  in  hygienic  liv- 
ing, can  themselves  give  instruction  from  the  depth  of 
their  ignorance  to  children  who  need  the  combined  atten- 
tion of  a  dentist,  of  a  physician  and  often  of  a  trained 
nutrition  worker. 

Yet  may  we  not  still  further  consider  the  situation? 
In  recent  years  our  school  physicians  and  hygienists  have 
worked  out  a  series  of  symptoms  or  measurements  to 
enable  them  very  roughly  to  classify  school  children  into 
four  nutrition  groups  ranging  from  Nutrition  1,  which 
stands  for  splendid  bodily  condition,  down  through  Nu- 
trition 2,  which  stands  for  a  less  obviously  healthy  con- 
dition, to  Nutrition  3,  or  defective  nutrition,  under- 
weight and  a  lack  of  necessary  vitality,  and  still  down  to 
Nutrition  4,  representing  a  condition  bordering  on  in- 
validism and  break-down.  Depending  upon  the  location 
of  our  schools  and  the  racial  stock  of  our  school  children 
the  number  of  those  below  par  physically  is  found  to 
range  from  fifteen  to  thirty-five  per  cent  of  the  total  num- 
ber enrolled.  In  the  various  centers,  intensive  studies  are 
beingmade  to  find-the  reasons  for  these  "Nutrition  Threes" 
and  "Nutrition  Fours"  and  so  far  as  the  results  of  these 
special  studies  are  available  they  seem  to  show  certain 
definite  causes.  Chief  among  these  causes  are  defective 
teeth,  poorly  selected  food  (often  also  poorly  prepared), 
poor  .conditions  for  sleeping  (including  a  lack  of  sufficient 
sleep) ,  a  weakened  or  contaminated  hereditary  stock,  and 
finally  a  general  neglect  or  ignorance  (in  the  pupils' 
homes)  of  the  fundamentals  of  hygienic  living. 


202  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL  IDEA 

If  these  be  the  causes,  can  any  reasonable  human  being 
be  found  who  will  expect  our  schools  or  our  school 
teachers  of  physical  training,  educated  as  they  have  been, 
to  remove  in  forty-five  minutes  or  less  a  day  of  physi- 
cal training  those  causes  that  have  no  origin  in  school 
work  or  school  attendance,  especially  when  each  teacher 
meets  on  the  average  thirty-five  pupils  at  once  and 
when  the  physical  training  time  is  so  often  allotted  as 
play  time  or  recess  time,  purely  for  the  mental  relaxation 
and  physical  exercise. 

The  very  diagnosis  of  a  school  child's  bodily  condition 
i>  a  matter  demanding  the  attention  of  a  trained  physi- 
cian; the  teeth  must  be  taken  care  of  by  a  dentist;  a 
specialist  in  nutrition  should  prescribe  the  diet  and  its 
preparation;  a  trained  social  worker  should  carry  con- 
viction to  the  pupil's  parents  that  the  child's  physical 
condition  needs  greatly  increased  care  and  attention.  In 
almost  every  school  in  America  there  is  an  unanswered 
demand  for  the  professional  care  of  the  children's  health 
by  people  who  are  specialists  in  treating  each  one  of 
the  major  causes  of  actual  or  potential  malnutrition  and 
ill  health. 

Indeed  when  all  is  said  regarding  the  unreasonableness 
of  expecting  our  teachers  of  language  or  of  mathematics 
to  correct  their  pupils'  defective  bodily  conditions,  one 
is  apt  to  find  it  almost  equally  unreasonable  to  expect 
even  the  schools  with  specialists  in  physical  training  to 
assign  this  entire  burden  to  such  a  teacher.  As  a  rule, 
the  teacher  of  physical  training  finds  a  prescribed  course 
in  games,  gymnastics,  setting  up  drills,  apparatus  work, 
etc.,  etc.,  that  more  than  takes  up  all  the  school  time 
assigned  to  his  subject,  while  in  after  school  hours  the 
teacher  of  physical  training  is  often  expected  to  coach 
and  frequently  to  manage  the  school  athletic  teams  in 


PHYSICAL    TRAINING,    CHARACTER    BUILDING      203 

their  manifold  voluntary  activities.  How  then  can  he  be 
expected,  in  addition  to  all  this,  even  after  the  skilled 
physician  has  diagnosed  each  child's  physical  condition, 
to  secure  the  necessary  dental  treatment  or  instruct 
the  pupils'  mothers  in  the  purchase  and  preparation  of 
food? 

Having  thus  far  succeeded  in  convincing  ourselves  that 
it  is  not  only  unreasonable,  but  impossible,  for  any 
one  to  expect  the  teachers  of  a  junior  high  school,  even 
the  teachers  of  physical  training,  to  safeguard,  or  to  rem- 
edy, their  pupils'  general  bodily  condition,  let  us  now 
proceed  to  find  ways  and  means  of  accomplishing  the 
impossible.  If  in  the  major  subjects  of  the  school 
curriculum  we  are  once  more  pioneers  in  finding  new 
and  better  ways  of  doing  things  that  convention  had 
decreed  were  unchangeable,  may  we  not  here  also  lead 
the  way  toward  remedying  conditions  that  appear  ir- 
remediable. 

In  the  first  place,  if  we  must  assign  to  the  subject 
of  physical  training  the  instruction  each  pupil  needs 
in  caring  for  his  or  her  own  body,  then  we  must  all  edu- 
cate ourselves  sufficiently  to  become  teachers  of  physi- 
cal training  to  some  extent  at  least,  no  matter  what  be 
the  specialty  for  which  the  school  board  may  employ  us. 
Whatever  be  our  specialty  we  all  keep  the  roll  books, 
mark  the  pupils'  attendance  and  receive  and  dismiss 
our  one  "official  class."  Those  in  our  official  class  are 
the  children  whose  health  and  habits  we  may  reasonably 
be  expected  to  be  best  able  to  influence,  for  to  these 
children's  parents  we  report  their  children's  school  prog- 
ress on  our  report  cards,  from  these  parents  we  expect 
notes  of  excuse  for  absence,  and  when  these  parents  cull  to 
make  inquiry  regarding  their  children's  progress,  we  are, 
or  should  be,  the  first  ones  consulted.     We  can  then, 


204  THE  JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL  IDEA 

each  of  us,  assume  the  obligation  of  finding  out  the 
physical  condition  of  each  of  the  children  in  our  one 
"official  class."  Are  they  all  "Nutrition  Ones"  and 
"Twos"?  If  they  are,  our  duty  is  to  keep  them  so.  Are 
many  "Threes"  and  "Fours"?  We  are  then  to  leave  no 
stone  unturned  to  show  them  the  path  to  health  and 
vigor.  If  we  have  a  school  physician  we  must  demand 
his  diagnosis.  If  we  have  none,  we  may  interest  our 
own  physician  in  voluntary  service  in  this  great  cause. 
Failing  in  both,  we  must  rely  on  our  own  common  sense 
and  powers  of  observation  to  make  the  first  preliminary 
survey,  and  these  measures  need  not  be  more  than  three 
as  a  general  rule.     (See  pages  205,  206.) 

A  tape  measure  and  the  grocer's  scale  will  give  us  one 
rude  measurement  of  malnutrition  if  a  table  of  normal 
heights  and  weights  be  obtained  from  almost  any  board 
of  health.  Children  need  not  strip  for  us  to  see  collar 
bones  that  are  well  covered  to  show  health,  or  that  stick 
out  to  show  some  form  of  child  starvation.  The  child's 
nervous  condition,  whether  jumpy  and  irritable,  or  lazy 
and  drowsy,  may  give  us  the  third  measure,  all  indi- 
cating conditions  that  need  remedying  and  that  usually 
can  be  remedied  by  our  interest  and  help. 

Having  made  our  first  survey,  no  matter  how  accurate 
or  how  crude  it  may  be,  we  can  select  our  extreme  cases  as 
the  ones  demanding  first  attention  and  can  send  a  per- 
gonal letter,  or  a  printed  form  supplied  by  the  school,  to 
the  parents  of  such  of  our  children  as  we  are  convinced 
need  immediate  attention.  In  many  cases  this  simple 
note  advising  the  parent  to  consult  a  dentist,  or  a  physi- 
cian, or  a  dietitian,  will  be  all  that  is  necessary  to  start 
the  youngster  upon  his  upward  path.  However,  in  many 
cases,  a  surprisingly  large  number  too,  we  may  expect 
rebuff  or  opposition  from  the  parents  (often  supposedly 


PHYSICAL    TRAINING,    CHARACTER    BUILDING      205 

educated  parents)  who  resent  any  suggestion  which  they 
feel  reflects  upon  their  care  of  their  own  children.  Not 
only  will  the  ignorant  parents  write  —  as  one  did  to  a 
teacher  who  tried  to  get  a  certain  very  dirty  child  cleaned 
up  — "Don't  smell  him.     Learn  him,"  —  but  the  know- 


HEIGHT  and  WEIGHT  TABLE  for  BOYS 

Height 
Inches 

5 

Yrs. 

6 
Yrs. 

7 
Yrs. 

8 
Yrs. 

9 
Yrs. 

10 

Yrs. 

11 

Yrs. 

12 
Yrs. 

13 

Yrs. 

14 
Yrs. 

15 
Yrs. 

16 
Yrs. 

17 
Yrs. 

18 
Yrs. 

39 
40 
41 
42 
43 
44 
45 
46 
47 
48 
49 
50 
51 
52 
53 
54 
55 
56 
57 
58 
59 
60 
61 
62 
63 
64 
65 
66 
67 
68 
69 
70 
71 
72 
73 
74 
75 
76 

35 
37 
39 
41 
43 
45 
47 
48 

36 
38 
40 
42 
44 
46 
47 
49 
51 
53 
55 

37 
39 
41 
43 
45 
46 
48 
50 
52 
54 
56 
58 
60 
62 

44 
46 
47 
48 
50 
52 
55 
57 
59 
61 
63 
66 
69 

49 
51 
53 
55 
58 
60 
62 
64 
67 
70 
73 
77 

54 

56 
58 
60 
63 
65 
68 
71 
74 
78 
81 
84 
87 
91 

57 
59 
61 
64 
67 
69 
72 
75 
79 
82 
85 
88 
92 
95 
100 
105 

62 
65 
68 
70 
73 
76 
80 
83 
86 
89 
93 
97 
102 
107 
113 

71 

74 

77 

81 

84 

87 

90 

94 

99 

104 

109 

115 

120 

125 

130 

L34 

138 

7S 

82 

85 

88 

92 

97 

102 

106 

111 

117 

122 

126 

131 

135 

139 

142 

147 

152 

157 

162 

86 
90 
94 
99 
104 
109 
114 
118 
123 
127 
132 
136 
140 
144 
149 
154 
1 59 

nil 

Kill 
1  7  4 

91 
96 
101 
106 
111 
115 
119 
124 
128 
133 
137 
141 
145 
150 
155 
160 
165 
170 
175 

97 
102 
108 
113 
117 
120 
125 
129 
134 
138 
142 
146 
151 
L56 
mi 
L66 
171 
17l» 

110 

116 
119 
122 
126 
130 
135 
139 
143 
147 
152 
157 
162 
167 
172 
177 

- 

Prep 

ired  by  Dr.  Thomas  D.  Wood. 

About  What  a  BOY  Should  Gain  Each  Month 

Age                                                         Ag 
5  to    8 6  nz.              12  to 

'l6 16 

8  to  1 

2 

.     8  «*.            ni  to 

is....                       g 

),  1918,  by  Child  Health  Organization 


206 


THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 


it-all  parents  will  threaten  as  one  did  in  my  own  work 
recently  "to  have  the  law  on  you"  for  daring  to  weigh 
and  measure  his  child.  Possibly  it  may  be  better  to  get 
each  parent  to  sign  in  advance  a  note  in  which  he  ex- 
presses  an  interest  in  his  child's  physical  condition  and 


HEIGHT  and  WEIGHT  TABLE  for  GIRLS 


Height 

5 

fi 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

Inches 

Yrs. 

Yrs. 

Yrs. 

Yrs. 

Yrs. 

Yrs. 

Yrs. 

Yrs. 

Yrs. 

Yrs. 

Yrs. 

VrS. 

Vrs. 

Vrs. 

39 

34 

35 

36 

40 

36 

37 

38 

41 

38 

39 

40 

42 

40 

41 

42 

43 

43 

42 

42 

43 

44 

44 

44 

45 

45 

46 

45 

•ifi 

47 

47 

48 

49 

46 

48 

4S 

49 

50 

51 

47 

49 

50 

51 

52 

53 

48 

51 

52 

53 

54 

oo 

56 

49 

53 

54 

oo 

56 

57 

5S 

50 

56 
59 
62 

57 
60 
63 
66 
68 

58 
61 
64 
67 
69 
72 
76 

59 
62 
65 
68 
70 
73 
77 
SI 
85 
89 

60 
63 
66 
68 
71 
74 
78 
82 
86 
90 
94 
99 
104 
109 

61 
64 
67 
69 
72 
75 
79 
83 
87 
91 
95 
101 
106 
111 
115 
117 
119 

70 
73 

76 
SO 
84 
88 
93 
97 
102 
107 
112 
117 
119 
121 
124 
126 
129 

77 
81 
85 
89 
94 
99 
104 
109 
113 
118 
120 
122 
126 
12S 
131 
134 
138 

86 
90 
95 
100 
106 
111 
115 
119 
122 
124 
127 
130 
133 
136 
140 
!  15 

91 
96 
102 
108 
113 
117 
120 
123 
126 
128 
132 
135 
138 
142 
147 

98 
104 
109 
114 

118 
121 

124 
127 
129 
!:;:; 
136 
139 
143 
148 

51 

52 

53 

54 

56 

57 

59 

60 

106 

61 

111 

62 

115 

63 

119 

64 

122 

65 

125 

66 

128 

67 

130 

68 

134 

69 

137 

70 

140 

71 
72 

144 

hi- 

149 

Prepared  by  Dr.  Thomas  D.  Wood. 

About  What  a  GIRL  Should  Gain  Each  Month 


Age 

14  to  16 8oz. 

16  to  18 4  oz. 


Age 

5  to    8 6  oz. 

8  to  11 Soz. 

11  to  14 12  oz. 

Try  and  do  as  much  better  than  the  average  as  you  can 

Weights  and  measures  should  be  taken  without  shoes  and  in  only 
the  usual  indoor  clothes. 


©,  1918,  by  Child  Health  Organization 


PHYSICAL    TRAINING,    CHARACTER    BUILDING      207 

asks  the  teacher's  interest  also.  For  this  the  school 
should  supply  an  official  form. 

For  the  parents  who  cannot,  or  will  not,  secure  dental 
treatment  for  their  children  there  seems  nothing  that  can 
be  done  at  present  except  to  urge  them  to  insist  upon 
the  frequent  use  of  the  tooth  brush  by  their  children. 
For  the  parents  who  will  not  have  their  children's  ob- 
structions to  good  breathing  (adenoids  or  enlarged  ton- 
sils) removed  we  can  do  but  little.  And  yet  even  in  these 
cases  if  we  can  induce  the  parents  to  feed  their  children 
at  timely  intervals  with  plenty  of  plain  food,  well  sup- 
plied with  vitamines  (fresh  milk  and  fresh  vegetables) 
we  can  make  great  headway  against  the  children's  pro- 
gressive deterioration.  If  to  this  we  add  repeated  in- 
struction in  the  necessity  for  a  well-ventilated  sleeping 
room  and  ten  or  more  hours  of  uninterrupted  sleep,  we 
can  still  feel  that  we  have  done  our  part  toward  making 
health  conservation  a  real  factor  in  junior  high  school 
instruction. 

Indeed  if  we  are  doing  our  full  duty  as  teachers  in  this 
newer  and  most  progressive  type  of  school  we  can  say  — 
and  indeed  we  must  say  —  in  answer  to  any  questions 
as  to  what  we  teach,  "I  teach  physical  training  (health 
conservation)  and  ..."  whatever  our  second  or 
special  subject  may  be. 

The  time  for  this  work  may  not  be  scheduled  on  the 
daily  program  of 'the  school,  though  it  would  be  well 
if  one  stated  period  each  week  could  be  assigned  to  it, 
but  for  the  most  part  it  must  be  done  in  the  twenty 
minutes  or  so  before  the  morning  session,  or  in  a  similar 
amount  of  time  after  school  is  dismissed.  As  a  rule, 
this  time  is  used  for  individual  cases,  checking  up  on 
the  pupil's  own  reports  on  his  health  progress.  For  the 
preliminary  health  survey  some  schools  declare  a  Health 


208  THE   JUNIOR  HIGH   SCHOOL  IDEA 

Day  during  the  opening  month  of  each  semester  and  the 
entire  day  is  spent  in  measuring  the  pupils'  physical  con- 
dition. For  this  day  each  teacher  is  supplied  with  a  set 
of  printed  directions  and  each  pupil  with  a  record  card 
showing  the  items  to  be  checked  up.  In  New  York  City 
the  form  on  the  following  page  is  used; 

Note  especially  the  directions  to  teachers  in  the  upper 
right  hand  corner  of  the  record  card. 

In  many  communities  the  school  nurse  may  be  ex- 
pected to  supply  something  approaching  the  professional 
examination  of  the  school  doctor,  and  to  act  as  a  con- 
necting link  between  the  class  room  teacher  and  the 
specialist.  Where  this  school  nurse  is  on  the  school 
payroll  and  under  the  supervision  of  the  principal  a 
great  deal  of  good  can  be  accomplished  by  her,  for  she 
becomes  the  one  charged  especially  with  the  conserva- 
tion of  the  children's  health.  Being  always  in  attendance, 
at  least  during  the  forenoon,  teachers  may  consult  the 
nurse  upon  all  matters  regarding  the  children  in  their 
official  classes.  Afternoons  the  nurse  may  visit  the  par- 
ents of  these  children  and  explain  the  physical  defects 
which  need  attention. 

Until  the  local  physicians  appreciate  the  value  of  these 
health  surveys,  opposition  may  be  found  in  some  cases 
to  any  physical  examination  of  the  children  which  they 
do  not  personally  make.  If  they  are  made  to  under- 
stand in  advance  that  the  parents  will  be  required  to 
refer  their  children  to  their  family  physician  for  super- 
vision and  prescription  after  the  school  diagnosis  is  com- 
pleted, practically  all  objections  from  this  source  can  be 
obviated. 

It  is  not  to  be  expected  that  each  teacher  will  be  able 
to  make  a  complete  and  correct  physical  survey  of  each 
pupil.    For  the  most  part,  the  value  of  such  a  card  rec- 


PHYSICAL    TRAINING,    CHARACTER    BUILDING      209 


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210  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

ord  will  be  to  "indicate  suspicion"  that  the  pupil  has 
physical  defects  that  need  special  attention.  The  use 
of  the  record  is  to  direct  the  physician's  attention 
immediately  to  possible  defects  and  so  enable  him  to 
survey  of  a  school  in  one  half  or  one  quarter  of  the 
time  that  would  be  required  if  the  physician  had  to  make 
all  the  tests  for  each  child,  without  the  teacher's  pre- 
liminary survey. 

When  no  school  phjrsician  is  employed,  the  record 
card  with  its  checks  under  various  headings  may  be  in- 
terpreted as  a  notice  to  the  child's  parents,  reading  "You 
had  better  look  into  the  matter  of  having  your  son's  diet 
■ — eyes  —  teeth  —  tonsils,  etc.,  etc.,  examined  by  a  spe- 
cialist." 

One  can  readily  see  now,  if  not  before,  that  individual 
examinations  of  each  pupil's  physical  condition  cannot 
be  made  solely  by  the  teacher  of  physical  training  unless 
he  is  freed  from  all  other  work.  Even  were  that  done, 
it  would  take  a  semester  for  him  to  cover  even  a  small 
school  without  taking  his  pupils  from  their  recitations 
in  other  subjects  and  so  interfering  with  the  scholastic 
progress  of  the  school. 

Having  now  and  at  some  length  discussed  the  reasons 
why  the  special  teacher  of  physical  training  can  not  and 
should  not  be  expected  to  be  responsible  for  the  physical 
condition  of  all  of  the  pupils  in  his  junior  high  school 
and  having  further  agreed  that  all  teachers  should  be  ex- 
pected to  be  to  no  small  degree  fellow  guardians  of  the 
pupils'  bodily  welfare,  it  remains  for  us  to  consider 
ways  in  which  the  special  teacher  of  physical  training 
may  contribute  in  turn  to  the  welfare  and  the  progress 
of  the  pupil  in  the  other  subjects  of  the  junior  high  school 
curriculum. 

First,  on  the  purely  technical  side,  in  his  gymnasium 


PHYSICAL    TRAINING,    CHARACTER    BUILDING      211 

or  out-of-door  exercises,  the  teacher  of  physical  train- 
ing may  be  reasonably  expected  to  drill  his  pupils  in  cer- 
tain physical  and  mental  characteristics  that  will  man- 
ifest themselves  in  all  the  pupil's  school  behavior.  It 
is  reasonable  to  expect  that  he  will  teach  his  pupils  how  to 
stand,  to  sit  and  to  walk  in  a  healthful  and  pleasing 
manner.  To  do  this  he  must,  in  such  modified  sequence 
as  best  fits  the  individual  or  the  group,  establish  first 
the  reasonableness  and  the  possibility  of  such  instructions 
as  he  intends  to  offer.  Then  he  may  by  example  and 
directions  show  how  the  actual  positions  are  secured. 
Finally,  he  must  appeal  to  the  pupils  in  such  a  way  as  to 
induce  each  one  to  accept  as  his  personal  ideal  and  goal 
that  reasonable  degree  of  perfection  that  is  called  for. 
Added  to,  or  accompanying  all  this,  comes  the  drill, 
the  setting-up  exercises  and,  in  some  schools,  the  bell, 
the  club  and  the  bar  or  wand  exercises  that  make  for 
good  posture  and  carriage. 

Second,  the  physical  training  instructor  may  be  reason- 
ably expected  to  imbue  all  his  pupils  with  a  reasonable 
regard  for  and  skill  in  —  instant  response  to  a  command, 
a  physical  alertness,  snap,  style  and  control,  so  that  each 
one  knows  what  it  is  to  be  "on  hair  trigger,"  senses  all 
alert,  fully  in  command  of  himself  and  still  ready  to 
accept  and  carry  out  the  right  order  when  it  comes.  Our 
fathers  and  grandfathers,  more  used  to  firearms  perhaps 
than  we  are,  coined  many  terms  that  may  be  well  ac- 
cepted by  us  in  our  physical  training  drills.  Not  only 
is  the  "hair  trigger"  alertness  most  desirable,  but  equally 
is  guarding  against  "going  off  at  half  cock"  or  physical 
response  before  a  command  is  completed.  Not  that  we 
can  expect  one  teacher  of  physical  training  to  correct  in 
his  occasional  drills  all  the  lazy  habits  of  a  pupil's  life 
time,  but  that  we  can  expect  him  in  the  line  of  his  work 


212  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

to  establish  ideals  of  alertness  and  control  that  will  en- 
dure far  beyond  his  drill  period.  Indeed  establishing 
ideals  of  bodily  perfection  under  the  control  of  an  alert 
mind  may  well  be  one  great  part  of  the  work  in  physical 
training  and  of  possibly  greater  value  than  anything 
else  in  securing  the  hoped-for  habits. 

As  a  third  requirement  comes  training  in  fair  play. 
Outside  the  gymnasium  or  the  drill  period,  no  teacher 
has  better  opportunities  for  creating,  by  precept  and 
practice,  those  ideals  of  sportsmanship  and  fair  play  that 
we  consider  to  be  essential  characteristics  of  American 
manhood  and  womanhood,  than  has  one  who  directs  the 
school's  athletic  teams.  When  a  school  will,  while  all  on 
fire  to  win,  prefer  defeat  to  playing  a  "ringer"  or  scoring 
on  an  undetected  foul,  one  can  be  sure  the  instructor  of 
physical   training   has   done   his   part  undeniably   well. 

The  teacher  of  physical  training,  while  he  surrenders 
to  each  teacher  of  an  official  class,  some  of  the  work 
in  making  physical  examinations  that  he  formerly  ex- 
pected to  do,  assumes  in  turn  new  obligations  that  are 
not  limited  by  the  customary  instruction  in  gymnasium 
periods.  These  major  obligations  may  be  reviewed  as 
Physical —  corrective  exercises  for  posture  and  carriage; 
Mental  —  alertness,  obedience,  control ;  Moral  —  fair  play 
and  good  sportsmanship. 

So  if  the  physical  training  teacher  be  left  free  to  con- 
centrate upon  these  three  lines  of  work  he  will  still  be 
kept  as  hard  at  work  as  any  one  among  the  teaching 
staff. 

Perhaps  at  this  time  when  we  are  considering  school 
athletic  teams  and  the  work  in  physical  training, 
we  may  be  so  bold  as  to  introduce  a  junior  high  school 
innovation  that  may  run  counter  to  the  school  and 
college  prejudices  of  over  a  century. 


PHYSICAL   TRAINING,    CHARACTER    BUILDING      213 

For  several  generations,  though  more  particularly  in 
the  last  quarter  century,  the  coveted  college  letter  to 
be  worn  on  the  cap  or  sweater  has  been  awarded  only 
to  the  man  who  has  defended  his  college  on  a  carefully 
selected  team  in  intercollegiate  athletics.  To  many  a 
college  man  the  wearing  of  the  "H"  the  "Y"  or  the 
"P"  has  meant  greater  honor  than  could  be  conferred 
by  any  royal  diadem.  This  we  would  not  change  were 
it  within  our  power.  And  yet  in  the  high  schools  our  atti- 
tude may  be  otherwise.  By  imitation  our  high  schools 
and  junior  high  schools  have  gradually  taken  up  this 
honored  college  custom  and  the  boy  who  is  permitted, 
as  a  result  of  prominence  in  interschool  athletics,  to  wear 
the  school  letter  on  his  cap  or  sweater  is  pretty  sure  to 
be  acclaimed  a  hero  and  a  leader  no  matter  how  small 
otherwise  may  be  his  qualifications  for  such  an  exalted 
position. 

Let  us  confess  that  in  our  secondary  school  athletics 
many  a  poor  student  and  worse  sportsman  has  thus  been 
raised  up  as  an  ideal  for  his  schoolmates  to  imitate. 
Let  us  confess  too  that  occasionally  some  youngster  who 
represented  in  his  person,  his  character  and  his  conduct 
almost  everything  (except  bodily  vigor)  for  which  his 
school  did  not  stand,  has  yet  worn  the  coveted  distinc- 
tion and  flaunted  it  for  all  the  school  to  see  until  expulsion 
terminated  his  meteoric  career.  Thereafter  we  may  have 
seen  our  school's'proud  letter  displayed  wherever  loafers 
congregated  or  ne'er-do-wells  assembled. 

Is  it  not  possible  for  us  in  the  junior  high  school  to 
plan  to  have  each  wearer  of  our  school  letter  an  all-around 
Leader  and  an  example  of  everything  that  is  highest  and 
besl  in  our  school  life,  rather  than  an  example  in  one  line 
alone?  For  each  junior  high  school  there  is,  or  should  be, 
an  ideal  boy,  existing  only  in  imagination  to  be  sure,  but 


214  THE  JUNIOR  HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

none  the  less  real  —  for  he  is  the  type  of  boy  we  teachers 
would  like  to  see  filling  every  seat  and  the  boy  each  of 
our  pupils  would  like  himself  to  be,  for  this  ideal  boy 
has  many  human  and  attractive  characteristics  that 
appeal  to  boys  as  well  as  to  grown-ups.  Because  he  is 
the  boy  we  wish  our  boys  to  resemble,  he  will  probably 
be  more  than  an  average  athlete,  but  he  will  be  a  good 
student  too,  or  at  least  no  failure  in  the  tasks  that  ostensi- 
bly he  came  to  school  to  accomplish.  Morever,  he  will 
be  an  honest,  truth-telling  boy,  brave  in  encounter, 
yet  kind  in  his  dealings  with  his  fellows.  He  will  not 
be  selfish,  self  centered,  or  clannish,  nor  yet  will  he  be 
''hail  fellow  well  met''  with  every  opponent  of  school 
authority. 

If  we  can  picture  such  a  fellow  in  our  mind's  eye  and 
then  reduce  his  character  to  writing,  we  have  the  basis 
for  awarding  our  school  letter  to  those  who  will  wear  it 
with  the  greatest  credit  to  themselves  and  greatest  assist- 
ance to  their  fellows  who  will  applaud  and  imitate  them. 

One  school  has  been  trying  for  some  years  to  do  this 
and,  while  it  cannot  report  that  it  has  fully  succeeded,  it 
still  can  report  progress  toward  success.  Not  then  so 
much  as  a  model  for  others  to  imitate,  as  an  illustration 
of  how  one  school  is  trying  to  use  its  school  letter  to 
indicate  real  leadership,  the  Requirements  for  the  Speyer 
"S"  are  appended  much  in  the  same  form  as  they  are 
handed  to  each  boy  in  Speyer  School. 

The  Speyer  ratings,  hereinafter  described,  may  now 
merely  be  noted  as  1,  2,  3,  4  and  5,  ranging  from  1  which 
shows  the  highest  success,  to  5  which  indicates  failure. 


PHYSICAL    TRAINING,    CHARACTER    BUILDING      215 

THE  SPEYER  "S" 
Do  You  Want  to  Wear  the  Speyer  "S"? 
1.  General  Requirements 

1.  In  order  to  gain  the  Speyer  "S",  students  must  work 

towards  a  total  of  not  less  than  280  points,  selected 
from  the  ones  hereinafter  described. 

2.  At  least  70  points  must  be  secured  in  each  division,  as 

70  points  in  physical,  70  points  in  social,  70  points  in 
moral  and  70  points  in  mental. 

3.  Additional  points  above  70  remaining  may  be  gained  with- 

out reserve  under  any  or  all  of  the  other  divisions. 

4.  To  those   students   gaining  a   total   of  430   points,   the 

Speyer  Sweaters  will  be  awarded. 

5.  No  student  will  be  eligible  for  the  Speyer  "S"  until  he 

has  completed  one  year  at  Speyer  School,  or  for  the 
Speyer  Sweater  until  he  has  completed  one  and  one 
half  years. 

Note 

1.  A   month  before   the   end  of  the   term,  the   Board   of 

Judges,  consisting  of  the  principal  or  his  deputy,  three 
members  of  the  faculty  and  four  representatives  of  the 
student  body,  will  meet  for  as  long  a  time  as  will  be 
deemed  necessary  to  decide  what  students  have  met 
the  requirements  for  the  Speyer  "S"  or  Speyer  Sweater. 

2.  Every  student  must  hold  himself  ready  to  appear  before 

the  Board  when  notified  to  do  so,  or  to  submit  such 
written  evidence  as  the  Board  may  require. 

3.  All   written  material   necessary  in  meeting  the  various 

requirements,  or  presented  in  any  way  for  evidence, 
must  be  plainly  written,  on  one  side  of  sheets  of  the 
same  size,  all  securely  fastened  together. 

4.  For  every  section  covered,  a  new  sheet  must  be  used, 

showing  your  name,  class,  date,  the  division  heading 
and  the  number  of  the  section  you  are  writing  about, 
viz: 

John  Smith.  Class  D2  June   1,   1921. 

Ill  Social    Efficiency.      Section  4,        Helping     Classmates 


216  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

I  Physical  Efficiency.  70  Points  Required.   Points    Max. 

1.  Making    one     or    more     of    the    class 

teams      20 

2.  Making  one  or  more  of  the  school  teams        25 

3.  The    correction   within   six   months,    or 

marked  improvement,  of  any  physical 
handicaps  relating  to  eyes,  nose,  skin, 
throat,  feet,  etc 10  20 

4.  Retaining  perfect  posture  while  standing, 

sitting,  or  performing  any  exercises  for 
a  period  of  six  months,  and  receiving  a 
mark  of  not  less  than  2  from  the  lead- 
ers    10 

5.  Bringing  evidence  from  parents  or  guard- 

ians that  immediately  on  arising  in  the 
morning,  a  cold  shower,  or  wet  cloth 
rub,  or  cold  air  bath  with  deep  breath- 
ing exercises  has  been  for  six  months 
practiced  regularly  at  home 10  20 

6.  Presenting  evidence  of  having  attended 

group  hikes  within  four  months  cover- 
ing not  less  than  100  miles,  or  an  equiv- 
alent in  out-door  group  activity  accept- 
able to  the  judges 10  30 

7.  Giving    proof    of    knowing    a    scientific 

health  regimen,  suitable  to  your  age, 
covering  — 

(a)  A  proper  diet  for  three  meals 

(b)  Proper  sleeping  regulations 

(c)  Other  essential  health  rules 15 

II  Social  Efficiency 

1.  Being  a  member  of  one  or  more  accred- 

ited school  clubs  with  a  record  of  at- 
tending at  least  15  meetings  for  each 
term    20 

2.  Acting  efficiently  as  a  leader  or  an  official, 

or  doing  some  conspicuously  merito- 
rious committee  work  in  any  club 
entire  term 20 


PHYSICAL   TRAINING,    CHARACTER    BUILDING     217 

3.  Knowing  the  first  and  the  last  names  and 

speaking  more  than  once  or  twice  a 
month  to  not  less  than  50  pupils  in 
Speyer  School  outside  of  those  in 
your  own  school  year 10  25 

4.  Proving  that  you  have  genuinely  helped 

at  one  time  or  another,  at  least  5  dif- 
ferent schoolmates  in  their  studies  and 
habits.  (This  is  the  opposite  of  permit- 
ting classmates  to  copy  your  home 
work)    20 

5.  Work  done  with  any  single  individual 

resulting  in  his  marked  physical,  mental 

or  moral   improvement  10 

6.  Being  especially  helpful  in  some  definite, 

responsible  way  to  the  teacher,  for  a 

period  of  not  less  than  four  months. .  20 

7.  Being  active  in  the  maintenance  of  a  vol- 

untary group  leading  towards  higher 
ideals,  mentally,  morally,  socially  or 
physically  in  one  or  more  special 
fields   10  25 

III  Mental  Efficiency 

1.  Having  a  record  of  no  4's  in  any  subject 

(unless  just  cause  can  be  given)  for  a 

period  of  four  months 30 

2.  Receiving  four  ratings  better  than  3  dur- 

ing  the   previous    four   months   with 

no  rating  below  3   10  40 

3.  Receiving  in  physical  training  a  mark 

averaging  not  less  than  2  for  4  consecu- 
tive months  in  alertness  and  con- 
trol              10  20 

4.  Submitting  an  original  set  of  acceptable 

essays  on  school  work  written  at  home 

and  not  required  as  school  work  ....         10  40 

5.  Submitting  in  writing  at  least  three  prac- 

tical ways  in  which  you  think  that  you 
have  helped,  or  are  trying  to  help  to 


218  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

make  Speyer  School  more  interesting 
or  better  in  any  way  regarding  the 
courses  of  study,  methods  of  work,  or 

school    administration    10  30 

6.  Composing  a  school  or  class  play,  song, 
or  cheer  which  shall  be  adopted  by  the 
class,  or  school,  or  writing  a  story  ac- 
cepted by  the  school  paper  10  20 

IV  Moral  Efficiency 

1.  Receiving  a  mark  not  less  than  2  in  "reli- 

ability" for  the  term  20 

2.  Receiving  a  mark  averaging  not  less  than 

2  in  "self  control"  for  the  term 20 

3.  Bringing    absolutely    convincing    proof, 

endorsed  by  parents  and  teachers  show- 
ing the  maintenance  of  good  habits  of 
character  regularly  practiced  for  at 
least  four  months  at  home  and  in 
school    10  40 

4.  Showing   evidence   whereby  you   helped 

arouse  the  opinion  of  the  class  against 
an  individual,  or  group  of  individuals, 
who  by  actions  or  words  tended 
towards  the  setting  up  of  bad  prac- 
tices       20 

5.  Writing  a  digest  of  not  less  than  500 

words  as  to  what  your  idea  is  as  to  the 
make-up  and  practices  of  a  courageous, 
fair  and  square  self-controlled  and  clean 
young  man  who  lives  up  to  the 
Speyer    Creed    10  40 


QUESTIONS 

1.  What  new  demand  upon  the  public  has  resulted  from  the 

findings    of    the   selective    draft    in   the    World    War? 

2.  To  what  extent  may  the  colleges  be  blamed? 

3.  What    change   might    we   expect    would    follow    entrance 

requirements  in  Bodily  Vigor? 


PHYSICAL   TRAINING,    CHARACTER    BUILDING      219 

4.  What    Nutrition    grades    are    now    recognized    and   what 

roughly    characterize    each    grade? 

5.  What  are  the  chief  reported  causes  of  the  "Threes"  and 

"Fours"? 

6.  What  specialists  are  needed  to  prescribe  for  these  con- 

ditions? 

7.  Why  cannot  even  the  teacher  of  Physical  Training  be  ex- 

pected to  take  these  cases  in  hand? 

8.  In    default    of    a    professional    diagnosis    what   nutrition 

measurements  may  we  take? 

9.  What   interference   with   our   health   efforts   may  be   ex- 

pected and  how  may  this  be  guarded  against  in  advance  ? 

10.  What  is  the  chief  value  of  the  teachers'  health  survey  and 

what  points  may  it  well  cover? 

11.  What  three  ideals  or  abilities  may  we  expect  the  teacher 

of  Physical  Training  to  develop? 

12.  Pian  a  set  of  requirements  to  be  set  as  a  standard  for 

pupils  who  would  be  permitted  officially  to  represent 
in  their  persons  what  my  school  stands  for? 


CHAPTER  XIII 
TEACHING   PUPILS   TO    STUDY   ALONE 

In  this  discussion  we  have  some  advantage  in  the 
greater  definiteness  of  our  problem.  We  are  dealing  with 
children  of  a  uniform  age  of  school  development  con- 
cerned with  subject-matter  which  itself  is  more  or  less 
uniform  for  the  group.  And  yet  the  problem  is  not  the 
one  of  teaching  the  pupils  how  to  study  even  introductory 
junior  high  school  work,  but  that  of  teaching  pupils  how 
to  study  introductory  junior  high  school  English  Liter- 
ature, Composition,  Introductory  Mathematics  (Arith- 
metic, Geometry,  Algebra),  General  Science,  a  Foreign 
Language  and  the  other  work  of  the  seventh  school  year 
in  a  junior  high  school. 

Of  necessity  ea'ch  one  of  the  five  major  land  two 
minor)  lines  of  junior  high  school  work  has  its  own  pe- 
culiar problems  to  be  worked  out  in  a  way  peculiar  to 
that  subject  and  the  best  guide  for  a  junior  high  school 
teacher  would  be  a  set  of  directions  worked  out  for  the 
various  advancing  steps  of  each  special  subject,  week  by 
week.  It  may  be  possible  that  we  as  teachers  will  never 
be  really  successful  in  our  efforts  until  some  one  has 
worked  out  for  us.  subject  by  subject,  topic  by  topic, 
the  guide  we  need  to  help  us  to  make  our  pupils  less  de- 
pendent upon  our  guidance  and  more  able  to  help  them- 
selves.   No  such  exactness  will  be  attempted  here. 

Let  us  acknowledge  that  the  teacher  requires  a  special- 
ized  knowledge   of    each   separate   subject   to   make   a 

220 


TEACHING   PUPILS   TO   STUDY   ALONE  221 

plan  for  teaching  pupils  to  study  that  subject,  and  that  no 
general  directions  common  to  all  can  do  more  than  point 
the  way.  Nevertheless,  something  is  gained  if  we  can 
show  even  the  direction  in  which,  if  effort  is  applied,  a 
greater  degree  of  success  can  be  secured  than  in  the  cus- 
tomary ways. 

It  has  been  assumed  by  many  that  successful  self- 
help  on  the  part  of  the  pupil  is,  after  all,  a  matter  of 
will  power.  Some,  who  have  not  themselves  studied  this 
problem  in  detail,  will  assert  that  any  pupil  can  study 
alone  if  he  only  makes  up  his  mind  to  do  so.  These 
people  will  assert  that  laziness  is  the  chief  barrier  to  be 
overcome  and  that  when  the  teacher  has  established  a 
high  degree  either  of  interest  or  of  fear  of  failure,  the 
pupil  will  be  automatically  be  able  to  study  with  little  or 
no  need  of  outside  help.  Whatever  modicum  of  truth 
there  may  be  in  this  position,  it  is  still  more  true  that 
those  who  assume  this  position  are  the  ones  most  largely 
responsible  for  the  enormous  percentage  of  pupils  now 
leaving  high  school  during  its  earlier  years. 

In  a  certain  school  for  one  reason  or  another  (pride 
of  rank,  fear  of  failure,  special  privileges  secured,  or  even 
a  high  sense  of  duty) ,  the  majority  of  the  pupils  stuck  to 
their  lessons  until  they  were  satisfactorily  completed. 
A  questionnaire  distributed  among  the  successful  pupils 
of  this  high  school,  and  later  checked  up,  disclosed  the 
fact  that  most  of  the  more  successful  pupils  were  working 
from  four  to  six  hours  on  their  lessons  outside  of  school. 
Yet  no  teacher  in  this  school  was  aware  that  the  total 
of  the  daily  work  assigned  called  for,  from  the  average 
scholars,  more  than  half  of  the  time  that  even  the  bright- 
est pupils  really  required  for  their  daily  preparation. 

In  another  school  the  experiment  was  tried  of  having 
the  class  teachers  suddenly  and  without  previous  notice 


222  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

work  out  themselves  the  lessons  they  had  assigned  to  one 
class  for  the  following  day.  Each  teacher  was  re- 
quested to  keep  an  accurate  account  of  the  time  required, 
which  included  the  collection  of  the  necessary  books  and 
getting  settled  for  the  task,  as  well  as  the  time  actually 
spent  in  working  out  the  lesson.  Again  the  results  were 
both  startling  and  enlightening  —  the  total  time  spent 
by  the  teachers  themselves  approximated  closely  the  time 
in  which  the  pupils  had  been  expected  to  do  this  same 
work.  In  one  subject  the  total  time  required  by  the 
teacher  to  work  out  only  one  of  several  topics  assigned 
for  the  next  day's  lesson  exceeded  the  total  time 
which  the  teacher  had  supposed  necessary  for  his  pupils 
to  finish  the  entire  work  of  preparation. 

It  is  not  necessary  for  us  to  investigate  the  schools, 
the  dates  and  the  assignments  about  which  these  true 
incidents  are  related.  Almost  any  school,  where  no  special 
emphasis  has  been  placed  upon  unreasonableness  in  les- 
son preparation,  will  give  the  same  result.  If  each  of 
us  will  resolve  to  make  these  experiments  in  our 
own  school  we  will  have  enough  facts  to  convince  us 
that  we  have  at  least  one  point  that  needs  correction. 

To  simplify  our  problem,  however,  let  us  assume  for  the 
purposes  of  further  discussion  that  all,  or  practically  all, 
our  pupils  are  seriously  interested  in  preparing  at  home 
the  lessons  we  daily  assign.  Let  us  further  assume  that 
our  pupils  are  not  incapable  of  the  demands  of  our  sub- 
ject as  we  understand  them.  We  cannot  well  ask  more 
than  this  as  a  favorable  setting  for  home  study,  unless 
we  take  one  further  step  and  ask  that  each  of  our  pupils 
be  provided  with  a  quiet  room  alone  at  home  where  there 
will  be  no  distraction  or  interruption  to  interfere  with 
his  orderly  preparation  of  the  assigned  work.  With  all 
these  assumptions   (and  we  know  how  unreal  they  ac- 


TEACHING   PUPILS  TO   STUDY  ALONE         223 

tually  are  in  the  average  class  of  average  children)  if  we 
still  find  that  our  problem  remains  a  troublesome  one 
we  are  at  least  isolating  its  difficulties. 

Perhaps  we  can  find  no  better  way  of  creating  artifi- 
cially the  conditions  we  have  assumed  than  to  give  up 
for  some  one  period  our  usual  recitation  in  order  that  we 
may  devote  this  time  to  letting  our  pupils  prepare  their 
next  day's  work  for  us  in  our  own  class  room  as  we  look 
on.  Given  this  setting,  our  pupils  are  to  be  permitted 
to  work  as  they  please,  without  interruptions  or  direc- 
tions from  any  source,  most  particularly  without  inter- 
ference by  the  teacher  himself,  save,  with  one  necessary 
modification  later  to  be  explained.  In  order  that  we 
may  be  better  able  to  observe  our  pupils  at  study,  the 
lesson  assigned  for  preparation  at  this  special  time  will 
have  been  most  carefully  worked  out  in  advance  by  us. 
We  will  know  its  easy  and  its  difficult  steps  —  its  es- 
sentials and  its  non-essentials  and  in  point  of  time  re- 
quired, we  will  adapt  this  assignment,  for  completion, 
within  the  period  we  are  devoting  to  it.  Again,  we  must 
confess,  we  will  have  a  set  of  conditions  most  unusual  in 
the  pupil's  ordinary  preparation  for  their  work  alone. 

Now  the  stage  is  surely  set  for  successful  independent 
study,  but  in  order  that  we  may  follow  more  readily 
the  workings  of  our  pupil's  minds,  we  must  introduce 
one  element  of  possible  distraction.  Before  our  pupils 
actually  begin  work  we  will  provide  each  pupil  with  three 
sheets  of  paper  —  or  one  large  sheet  ruled  in  three  divi- 
sions—  upon  which  they  may  scribble  as  they  study. 
One  sheet  will  be  headed  "Most  Important,"  one  "Impor- 
tant" and  the  third  "I Unimportant"  or  "Trivial." 

As  each  pupil  studies,  he  is  requested  to  jot  down  a 
word,  a  phrase,  or  a  sentence  to  show  how  lie  would  clas- 
sify the  various  points  of  the  lesson  that  interest  him  or 


224  THE  JUNIOR   HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

claim  his  more  than  ordinary  attention.  It  will  be  most 
interesting  and  instructive  for  the  teacher,  if  he  walks 
quietly  around  the  room  glancing  at  the  pupils'  written 
notes  as  the  period  progresses.  Finally,  let  the  teacher 
collect  at  the  end  of  the  period  all  these  papers  on  which 
the  pupils  have  been  classifying  (according  to  the  value 
of  each),  the  facts  or  processes  they  have  been  studying. 

It  will  now  be  our  task  to  go  over  by  ourselves  alone 
-the  lesson  assigned  for  the  period  just  completed  and  to 
classify  just  as  the  pupils  were  asked  to  do,  the  various 
elements  of  the  assigned  work  upon  our  "Most  Impor- 
tant," "Important,"  or  "Unimportant"  pages  as  the  case 
requires. 

Comparing  finally  the  pupils'  total  work  with  our  own 

—  and  supposing  our  own  classification  to  be  the  cor- 
rect one  —  which  we  must  admit  is  not  always  the  case 

—  we  will  have  the  basis  for  finding  out  the  ease  and 
accuracy  with  which  our  pupils  went  to  the  heart  of  the 
problem  we  had  set  them.  Unless  our  school  be  one  in 
a  hundred  —  a  school  where  our  pupils  have  long  been 
trained  to  study  by  themselves  —  a  school  where  teaching 
how  to  study  has  been  a  most  important  part  of  each 
week's  work  of  instruction,  we  will  all,  whatever  be  our 
subject,  find  approximately  the  same  results. 

By  and  large,  we  will  find  that  facts  we  consider 
"Most  Important"  will  appear  in  the  pupils'  classification 
as  "Trivial"  about  as  often  as  they  appear  in  their  true 
place.  Trivial  things  will  equally  appear  classified  about 
as  often  as  "Most  Important"  as  in  any  other  division, 
while  "Important  Things"  will  be  more  or  less  equally 
-distributed  in  the  three  classifications.  If  we  are  in  doubt 
as  to  our  findings,  we  may  try  the  test  again  and  again 
with  other  classes  or  with  other  assignments.  Unless  our 
classes  have  been  specially  trained,  the  results  will  be 


TEACHING  PUPILS  TO   STUDY  ALONE         225 

astonishing.  Varying  slightly  with  the  native  ability  or 
inherited  intelligence  of  each  pupil,  our  general  results 
will  not  differ  greatly  from  a  chance  distribution,  as  one 
might  deal  a  pack  of  shuffled  cards  face  down  into  three 
piles. 

To  that  degree  which  any  pupil  is  found  repeatedly  able 
to  approximate  the  teacher's  (the  correct)  classification 
to  that  degree  the  pupil  may  be  said  to  have  learned, 
how  to  study  alone.  From  these  and  from  subsequent 
similar  tests  the  teacher  may  secure  a  rough,  but  never- 
theless significant  measure  of  the  extent  to  which  any 
pupil  may  have  learned  to  work  independently  of. out- 
side help. 

Should  anyone  remain  unconvinced  of  the  truth  of  our^ 
contention  that  the  pupil's  total  inability,  without  train- 
ing, to  distinguish   essentials  lies  in  the  heart  of  our 
difficulty,  this  further  experiment  is  proposed. 

Under  the  same  conditions  as  for  the  previous  tests 
let  the  teacher  arrange  a  list  of  from  ten  to  twenty  brief 
statements  taken  from  the  work  that  is  proposed  for 
home  study.  These  facts  should  be  taken  in  sequence 
from  the  proposed  work  without  regard  to  their  impor- 
tance, taking  the  insignificant  and  significant  facts  in  or- 
der as  they  may  come  in  the  text  to  be  studied.  The  pu- 
pils, with  their  three  sheets,  "Most  Important,"  "Impor- 
tant," "Unimportant"  before  them,  are  asked  to  classify 
the  facts  as  they  are  slowly  dictated  by  the  teacher.  The 
pupils'  results,  when  tabulated,  are  then  compared  with 
the  teacher's  subsequent  classification  of  these  same 
facts. 

Now  if  these  tests  show  us  nothing  else  than  to  let  us 
see  how  hard  it  is  for  the  untrained  children  to  do  the 
things  we  consider  simple  and  easy,  they  will  have  served 
a  worthy  purpose.     But  these  tests  should  have  done 


226  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

still  more.  By  means  of  these  tests  we  should  become 
convinced  that  the  barrier  to  satisfactory  home  study 
lies  primarily  in  neither  a  lack  of  interest  nor  a  lack 
of  industry,  but  first  of  all  in  the  pupils'  almost  total 
inability  to  distinguish  the  essential  from  the  trivial 
until  he  is  especially  trained  to  do  so. 

Will  we  seem  too  depreciatory  of  our  own'  work  as 
teachers  if  we  admit  that  the  chief  barrier  to  ,a  school 
boy's  learning  how  to  study  is  the  teacher's  own  failure  to 
appreciate  the  difficulties  of  the  work  he  assigns  for 
home  preparation. 

Assuredly  by  the  old  method  of  rewarding  those  who. 
largely  by  chance  at  first,  hit  upon  the  essentials  in  their 
preparation,  and  by  punishing  in  various  ways  those 
whose  chance  selection  fails  to  meet  our  approval,  we 
will  gradually  teach  our  pupils  how  to  study.  But  what 
a  blind  and  wasteful  method,  after  all,  this  is.  How 
much  better  it  would  be  if  we  could  make  our  pupils' 
efforts  more  productive  of  results  from  the  start.  Such 
a  change  if  it  comes  will  come  first  through  a  change  in 
the  teacher's  own  attitude  toward  the  work  he  assigns. 
If.  one's  pupils  are  to  be  taught  how  to  study,  the  as- 
signment of  home  work  will  at  once  be  that  part  of  the 
teacher's  work  which  will  most  of  all  require  skill  in 
preparation.  The  surpassing  teacher's  superiority  will 
not  be  established  by  his  conduct  of  the  recitation,  but 
rather  by  the  judgment,  foresight  and  painstaking  care, 
with  which  he  assigns  the  daily  task  his  pupils  are  sup- 
posed to  work  out  alone  at  home. 

If,  for  our  guidance  as  teachers,  we  were  to  enumerate 
in  sequence  some  of  the  steps  necessary,  if  our  pupils 
are  to  study  by  themselves,  we  might  well  begin  with 
establishing  the  reasonableness  (the  usefulness  to  the 
pupil)  of  the  major  subject  itself.    If  the  subject  of  studv 


TEACHING   PUPILS  TO   STUDY   ALONE  227 

is  history,  we  must  take  the  time  to  convince  our  pupils 
that  from  every  viewpoint  the  study  of  history  is  the 
most  valuable  subject  that  could  be  selected  for  that 
fraction  of  the  pupil's  school  day  which  it  is  assigned  on 
the  school  program.  We  must  not  be  so  unfair  as  to  at- 
tempt to  persuade  our  pupils  that  history  is  the  one 
subject  worth  studying,  but  we  must  convince  him  that 
no  other  subject,  whether  offered  for  instruction  or 
not,  could  possibly  secure  for  him  the  peculiar  benefits 
that  will  follow  his  study  of  history.  Other  subjects  may 
be  equally  important,  but  if  history  is  omitted  the 
pupil  will  lose  something  that -no  other  subject  can  hope 
to  supply.  As  has  often  been  repeated,  it  is  the  junior 
high  school  teacher's  business  to  take  nothing  for  granted 
unless  it  be  the  pupil's  deep-seated  aversion  to  the 
teacher's  specialty.  Each  pupil  must  be  won  over  to 
the  reasonableness  of  the  study  of  history  and  must  be 
supplied  with  arguments  to  defend  the  reasonableness 
against  all  comers. 

As  a  second  step  the  time  element  may  be  considered. 
Each  teacher  knows,  or  should  know,  that  his  assignment 
is  not  the  only  one  to  be  prepared  at  home  by  the  pupil 
the  coming  night.  Not  less  than  three,  usually  four, 
lessons  will  need  the  pupil's  attention  every  evening. 
We  all  know  and  possibly  all  despise  the  teacher  who 
seeks  to  establish  the  importance  of  his  subject  by  assign- 
ing as  "absolutely  necessary"  a  lesson  for  home  prepara- 
tion that  will  require  every  minute  of  the  pupil's  total 
time.  Except  for  the  subjects  that  may  require  no  home 
preparation  at  all,  as  shop  work,  sewing,  drawing,  music, 
it  is  but  fair  to  assume  that  each  subject  is  entitled  only 
to  that  part  of  the  pupil's  weekly  home  preparation  that 
the  subject  itself  is  granted  in  the  weekly  time  schedule 
of  the  school  program.    If  a  subject  is  granted  one  fifth, 


228  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

or  one  seventh,  or  one  twelfth  of  the  weekly  school  pro- 
gram, its  right  is  established  to  the  same  fraction  of  the 
pupil's  home  preparation  and  to  no  more. 

A  principal  who  wishes  to  make  this  second  step  in 
home  study  successful  can  do  no  better  than  to  call  into 
conference  in  turn  all  the  subject  teachers  of  each  class, 
leaving  to  these  teachers  the  problem  of  working  out  a 
daily  schedule  for  the  week's  home  study.  A  gentlemen's 
agreement  as  to  the  home  work  each  teacher  may  claim 
on  any  certain  day  is  better  than  a  peremptory  order 
allotting  the  time  allowance  for  each .  subject's  daily 
preparation. 

However,  the  main  thing  here  is  to  have  the  home 
work  in  each  subject  so  reasonable  in  its  time  require- 
ment as  to  remove  on  the  one  hand  the  repugnance  to 
study  that  an  unfair  assignment  may  awaken  in  the 
mind  of  a  full  spirited  pupil,  or,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
theft  of  energy  and  time  from  relaxation  and  play  that 
the  too  industrious  pupil  may  suffer. 

So  far  we  have  taken  two  steps  in  teaching  pupils  how 
to  study  and  these  two  steps  appear  to  have  been  taken 
for  the  one  purpose  of  making  the  proposed  home  study 
of  our  pupils  more  reasonable  to  them.  The  subject  it- 
self is  established  as  worth  the  pupils'  study  and  the 
time  allowance  is  reasonable  (to  the  pupil)  in  amount. 
Yet  unconsciously  to  ourselves,  perhaps,  we  have  been 
making  two  advances  in  teaching  our  pupils  how  to 
overcome  the  one  superlative  barrier  to  their  home  study 
alone  —  their  inability  to  distinguish  essentials  from 
non-essentials  in  the  work  assigned  for  home  study. 

Tn  so  far  as  our  pupils  understand  the  reasons  for 
which  they  are  studying  history  (to  continue  our  ex- 
ample) and  so  to  a  degree  the  necessity  for  the  particular 
assignment  on  which  they  are  working,  and  in  so  far  as 


TEACHING  PUPILS  TO   STUDY  ALONE         229 

they  realize  that  what  is  assigned  must  be  given  a  cer- 
tain definite  and  limited  amount  of  serious  attention,  they 
are  provided  with  certain  criteria  for  judging  the  relative 
value  of  the  various  facts  which  the  home  lesson  presents. 
While  we  have  been  apparently  humoring  the  pupil  in 
his  attitude  of  having  to  be  convinced  we  have  in  reality 
been  giving  him  step  by  step  the  very  training  he  needs 
in  order  to  study  our  subject  intelligently  alone. 

While  we  may  appreciate  the  training  that  comes  from 
establishing  the  reasons  for  studying  the  subject,  the 
training  that  comes  from  definite  time  allotment  may 
not  have  been  recognized.  The  time  element  itself  gives 
the  pupils  a  basis  for  the  selection  of  essentials.  Given 
a  certain  definite  amount  of  time  for  a  given  lesson,  the 
pupil,  whether  he  be  assigned  a  single  sentence,  an  exam- 
ple, a  page,  or  a  chapter,  has  some  definite  standard  for 
judging  the  degree  of  thoroughness  with  which  he  is  ex- 
pected to  acquire  the  facts  in  question.  If  the  pupil  is 
given  but  a  paragraph  it  is  reasonable  for  him  to  judge, 
other  things  being  equal,  that  every  part  of  that  para- 
graph is  important,  though  some  parts  may  be  especially 
so.  Similarly,  if  a  chapter  be  assigned,  the  pupil  must 
know  that  he  cannot  be  expected  to  memorize  the  entire 
chapter  in  the  time  allotted,  but  that  he  must  quickly  try 
to  find  within  the  chapter  those  points  which  transcend 
all  the  others  in  importance  and  to  center  his  attention 
upon  them. 

The  teacher  then  will  not  preface  his  assignment  by 
saying,  "The  lesson  I  am  assigning  for  your  study 
to-night  is  a  particularly  difficult  one,"  or  "This  will 
prove  an  easy  lesson  to  prepare,"  because  he  will  so  appor- 
tion his  assignments  as  to  make  them  all  approximately 
equal  in  difficulty.  While  we  recognize  the  added  work 
this  places  on  the  teacher,  it  is  wholly  unavoidable  if  we 


230  THE  JUNIOR   HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

are  to  realize  our  aim.  After  all.  we  junior  high  school 
teachers  cannot  hope  to  escape  the  real  burden  of  doing 
things  that  no  other  type  of  school  has  yet  done,  or  at 
least  has  not  done  well.  As  pioneers  we  will,  however, 
have  the  joy  of  exploration  and  discovery  far  outweigh- 
ing our  discomforts. 

If  the  first  step  is  to  establish  the  reasonableness  of 
each  study  as  a  whole,  and  the  second  a  reasonable  period 
of  preparation,  the  third  step  for  the  teacher  is  to  es- 
tablish the  reasonableness  of  each  lesson  as  it  is  assigned. 
This  is  no  simple  task.  It  adds,  apparently,  no  light 
burden  to  the  teacher's  work.  It  is  so  much  easier  to 
say,  "Study  the  next  five  pages";  "Prepare  the  next  ten 
sentences";  "Work  out  and  hand  in  the  next  ten  ex- 
amples," than  it  is  to  stop  and  carefully  explain  the 
reasons  for  the  assignment  as  it  is  announced.  Teachers 
who  pride  themselves  on  being  almost  over-conscientious 
in  their  work  have  for  years  been  content  to  say,  "Your 
lesson  for  home  study  is  written  on  the  blackboard," 
believing  that  in  writing  down  the  assignment  they  have 
fulfilled  every  possible  moral  obligation  toward  the 
pupil. 

However,  from  the  standpoint  of  teaching  the  pupils 
how  to  study,  even  the  written  assignment  (with  time 
provided  in  which  to  copy  it  down)  fails  entirely  of  es- 
tablishing what  must  be  our  third  step,  convincing  the 
pupil  of  the  reasonableness  of  the  assignment  itself. 

If  we  are  to  hold  our  pupils  to  account  on  the  work  we 
assign  for  home  study,  we  must  be  positive  that  both  we 
and  our  pupils  know  exactly  what  is  expected  in  this 
period  of  self-preparation.  In  so  far  as  our  lesson  as- 
signment is  vague  and  indefinite,  just  so  far  do  we  de- 
prive our  pupils  of  any  fixed  basis  for  judging  relative 
values. 


TEACHING  PUPILS  TO   STUDY   ALONE         231 

Supposing  that  the  pupil  is  truly  eager  to  prepare  his 
work  and  that  he  thoroughly  appreciates  the  importance 
of  the  topic  assigned,  still  we  may  leave  him  floundering 
in  a  slough  of  despond  unless  we  make  our  home  re- 
quirement from  this  lesson,  so  definite  that  there  can  be 
no  misunderstandings  on  the  pupil's  part,  when  he  studies 
to-night  alone  at  home,  nor  on  our  part,  when  he  meets 
us  tomorrow  in  the  class  room.  An  oral  assignment 
hastily  made  at  the  close  of  a  period,  can  scarcely 
be  expected  to  make  an  impression  that  will  endure 
until  the  time,  hours  afterward,  when  the  pupil  may 
sit  down  to  work  that  assignment  out.  Few  of  us, 
grown  men  and  women,  would  try  to  carry  in  our  minds 
four  separate  and  exacting  sets  of  directions  for  tasks  we 
were  to  undertake  some  hours  hence.  Even  such  brief 
notes  as  we  might  jot  down  would  be  insufficient.  We 
would  ask,  and  expect  to  receive,  exact  and  explicit  in- 
structions if  the  tasks  were  themselves  exacting.  "Oh," 
some  one  will  say,  "the  pupil  is  expected  to  use  his  judg- 
ment." This  is  exactly  the  point.  Until  the  pupil  is 
trained  he  has  no  judgment  which  he  can  use.  In  order 
to  make  him  a  judge  of  essentials,  he  must  be  trained 
and  the  first  training  is  in  recognizing  the  essentials 
which  we  pick  out.  Gradually,  the  pupil  will  learn  to 
pick  out  the  essentials  for  himself,  but  in  beginning  the 
junior  high  school  work  (as  now  in  beginning  the  four 
year  high  school  work)  the  pupil  must  have  the  essentials 
picked  out  for  him,  by  the  teacher  who  assigns  the  lesson 
for  home  study. 

Therefore  the  lesson  must  be  definite  —  such  guides 
as  may  be  necessary  for  the  home  study  of  that  lesson 
must  be  actually  written  down  —  the  assignment  itself 
must  be  copied  from  the  blackboard  in  the  exact  words 
of  the  teacher  and  enough  time  must  be  allowed  to  make 


232  THE  JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL  IDEA 

sure  that  every  pupil  has  an  accurate  copy.  Indeed  it 
might  be  well  at  the  very  outset  for  each  teacher  to  make 
a  classification  of  the  lesson  points  such  as  we  used  in 
the  trial  tests  described  earlier  in  our  discussion  and  to 
make  this  classification  a  part  of  the  blackboard  assign- 
ment which  the  pupil  will  copy  in  his  "For  Home  Study" 
note-book. 

Just  as  soon  as  we  see  evidences  of  our  pupils'  in- 
creasing ability  to  pick  out  essentials  for  themselves  we 
shall,  of  course,  cease  little  by  little  to  pick  out  the  es- 
sentials for  them  and  so  give  them  an  opportunity  to 
exercise  the  judgment  which  we  are  teaching  them  to 
develop.  However,  at  the  outset  —  for  beginners  —  and 
it  is  beginners  that  we  have  had  in  mind  from  the  start  — 
we  must  err  if  at  all  upon  the  side  of  too  much,  rather 
than  too  little,  guidance  in  the  preparation  for  home 
study. 

QUESTIONS 

1.  Why  is  not  teaching  pupils  how  to  study  a  general  matter 

instead  of  a  special  matter  for  each  separate  subject? 

2.  What  amount    of  time  do   my   most   successful  students 

spend  over  their  books? 

3.  Have  I  ever  tried  the  experiment  of  doing  myself  the  home 

work  I  assign?     With  what  results? 

4.  What  two  experiments  may  I  try  in  my  class  room  to  show 

me  how  my  pupils  study  alone? 

5.  What  were  my  results  for  each  experiment? 

6.  Do  I  know  how  to  study?    How  did  I  learn? 

7.  What  is  the  first  step  in  teaching  my  pupils  how  to  study 

my  specialty  alone? 

8.  How  may  I  decide  upon  a  reasonable  time  requirement  for 

each   separate   day's   home   study'.' 

9.  How  does  the  time  requirement   guide  a  pupil  in  how  he 

should  study  at  home? 
10.  What  is  the  third  and  last   step  in  teaching  my   pupils 
to  study  alone9    Why  is  it  so  important  to  the  pupil? 
Why  is  it  so  dim  cult  for  me? 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE   PROJECT    METHOD    OF   INSTRUCTION   IN 
THE    JUNIOR   HIGH    SCHOOL 

When  mature  men  and  women  undertake  the  study  of 
any  special  subject  whether  it  be  some  difficult  business 
proposition,  or  a  topic  on  which  they  seek  enlightenment 
by  serious  reading,  they  have,  as  a  rule,  a  very  definite 
purpose  in  their  work.  So,  too,  young  men  and  women 
pursuing  courses  in  colleges  usually  have  a  more  or 
less  clearly  defined  purpose  in  view  —  which  may  be 
as  general  as  the  preparation  for  a  profession  or  as  special 
as  the  mastery  of  some  problem  in  one  of  the  studies 
they  are  pursuing.  Even  in  the  later  years  of  the  high 
school,  boys  and  girls  may  work  with  a  definite  purpose 
in  some  or  all  of  their  selected  subjects. 

However,  when  one  considers  the  motives  that  govern 
early  adolescents  in  their  school  work,  one  has  difficulty 
in  discovering  that  they  have  any  serious  purposes  at 
all  to  guide  them  in  their  work.  For  the  most  part 
children  of  junior  high  school  age  "go  to  school"  because 
the  law  requires  it  and  their  parents  insist  upon  it. 
Others  may  go  because  they  enjoy  being  with  children 
of  their  own  age  and  since  their  playmates  go  to  school 
they  want  to  go  also.  Repeal,  however,  the  compulsory 
education  laws,  remove  parental  control  and  what  a 
drop  in  our  school  attendance  would  immediately  result! 
Later  some  of  these  very  children  whose  natural  incli- 
nation at  twelve  would  be  to  keep  as  far  away  from 

233 


234  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL  IDEA 

school  as  possible  may  study  willingly  far  into  the  night 
and  gladly  forego  all  sorts  of  creature  comforts  if  only 
they  be  permitted  to  continue  their  education.  More 
than  one  boy  now  ungrudgingly  laboring  at  all  sorts  of 
menial  tasks  to  work  his  way  through  college,  had  to  be 
driven  to  his  school  work  in  early  adolescence. 

To  more  than  any  one  other  factor  this  change  in  atti- 
tude toward  school  work  is  due  to  the  acquisition  of  some 
purpose  in  the  youth's  study  that  was  wholly  lacking 
in  his  earlier  years.  If  junior  high  school  pupils 
for  the  most  part  enter  upon  their  work  with  no  purpose 
higher  than  avoiding  the  consequences  of  disobedience 
— ■  and  later  acquire  purposes  that  may  keep  them 
eagerly  at  school  work  even  to  the  university,  it  becomes 
our  duty  as  junior  high  school  teachers  to  supply  worthy 
purposes  for  our  pupils  if  possible  from  their  very  start 
with  us. 

Since  we  aim  to  help  our  pupils  "to  do  better  those 
worthy  things  they  will  do  anyway,"  we  can  scarcely 
furnish  greater  assistance  than  by  helping  them  to  gain 
what  most  of  them  have  not  when  we  receive  them  — 
a  worthy  purpose  in  their  school  work. 

Other  things  being  equal,  the  more  distant  and  gen- 
eral the  purpose  —  as  preparing  to  be  an  intelligent,  ed- 
ucated business  or  professional  man  —  the  higher  and 
more  powerful  the  influence  which  this  purpose  will  exert 
upon  a  pupil's  life,  but  however  much  a  youngster  of 
twelve  may  think  he  wishes  to  realize  such  a  distant 
aim,  the  difficulties  and  abstractions  of  his  daily  tasks 
will  often  prove  too  discouraging  to  make  the  distant 
goal  an  ever  present  help  in  time  of  trouble. 

The  project  method  is  merely  a  name  that  has  been 
given  to  a  plan  of  teaching  by  which  each  teacher  in 
his  subject  attempts  to  supply  immediate  purposes  which 


PROJECT   METHOD   OF   INSTRUCTION  235 

will  make  the  daily  and  weekly  work  really  interesting 
because  from  it  the  pupil  will  get  something  —  infor- 
mation, skill  or  power,  which  the  boy  wants  or  can  be  led 
to  want  at  the  very  time  this  subject  is  being  studied. 

Those  who  most  enthusiastically  support  this  new 
(yet  centuries  old)  method  of  work,  maintain  that  chil- 
dren come  to  school  or  are  sent  to  school,  as  much  to 
get  purposes  in  their  intellectual  work  as  to  get  informa- 
tion from  books  or  from  teachers.  Therefore  they  main- 
tain that  the  teacher  who  can  instill  facts,  but  who  fails 
to  develop  worthy  purposes  along  with  facts,  does  only 
half  the  work  for  which  he  is  engaged. 

From  our  position  as  moderate  progressives  we  will 
find  it  difficult  to  avoid  agreeing  in  part  with  the  pro- 
ponents of  the  project  method  when  we  realize  that  pu- 
pils if  they  study  at  all  must  do  so  with  some  purpose 
in  mind  even  if  it  be  only  that  of  escaping  punishment 
or  pleasing  the  teacher.  We  must  agree  that  in  so  far 
as  the  pupil's  purpose  in  his  work  is  to  gain  information 
which  he  really  wants  for  and  by  himself,  without  com- 
pulsion from  without,  we  have  raised  the  moral  and  in- 
tellectual level  of  the  child. 

We  may  be  teaching  our  specialty  because  we  like  it, 
or  because  we  found  it  easier  to  get  a  license  in  that  sub- 
ject than  in  some  other,  but  we  more  rarely  have  given 
serious  thought  as  to  why  our  subject  should  appeal, 
if  it  does  at  all,  to  the  little  children  we  instruct.  For 
most  of  us  it  is  enough  that  our  subject  is  "required." 
The  pupil  must  do  satisfactory  work  to  be  promoted 
(he  knows  that  and  so  do  we,)  why  distress  ourselves 
with  further  difficulties? 

Elsewhere,  under  "Teaching  Pupils  How  to  Study 
Alone,"  we  have  discussed  the  value  of  sending  children 
from  our  classes  with  some  real  problems  which  they 


236  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

may  ,work  out  at  home.  The  project  method  merely 
brings  these  same  problems  into  the  class  rooms  and 
makes  the  statement  or  re-statement  of  an  acceptable 
problem  an  essential  part  of  each  day's  work. 

If  we  would  work  with  the  highest  success,  the  teacher 
of  each  subject  must  not  only  be  an  expert  in  the  subject- 
matter  he  is  engaged  to  teach,  but  an  expert  in  the  pur- 
poses of  the  work  he  daily  plans  for  his  pupils.  Such  a 
requirement  may  indeed  be  too  high  for  our  immediate 
fulfillment,  but  if  we  recognize  that  this  intimate  ac- 
quaintance with  the  purposes  of  our  work  is  a  desirable 
goal,  we  have  made  an  undeniable,  forward  step. 

We  may  be  able,  perhaps,  to  work  out  one  big  purpose 
for  all  the  work  in  our  subject  for  a  school  grade  and 
fail  to  discover  purposes  for  some  of  the  topics  we  re- 
quire day  by  day.  Even  at  that,  we  have  made  prog- 
ress, provided  that  this  one  purpose  is  thoroughly  under- 
stood by  our  pupils  as  well  as  by  ourselves. 

Gradually  as  we  repeat  our  subject  term  by  term 
we  may  inject  here  and  there  a  purpose  that  makes 
our  pupil's  work  to  that  extent  more  interesting  and 
attractive.  So  we  strengthen  our  work  as  teachers  not 
by  a  single  cataclysmic  change,  but  by  a  gradual  in- 
crease year  by  year  through  careful,  thoughtful,  pains- 
taking study  of  the  purposes  of  the  work. 

Let  no  one  think  that  such  a  progress  toward  profes- 
sional skill  of  this  high  type  is  ever  a  simple  or  an  easy 
matter.  No  matter  how  sure  we  may  be  that  the  purposes 
we  have  worked  out  are  worthy  ones,  they  fail  entirely 
of  their  value  in  our  work  if  we  alone  recognize  these 
purposes  as  worthy.  To  be  of  value  in  our  project 
method  the  purposes  we  propose  must  appeal  to  our 
pupils  at  least  as  strongly  as  to  ourselves.  An  imposed 
purpose  even  though  it  may  seem  wholly  rational  to  us 


PROJECT   METHOD  OF   INSTRUCTION  237 

as  teachers,  fails  utterly  of  its  value  unless  the  pupils 
of  our  class  accept  and  appropriate  it  as  their  own.  To 
require  a  child  to  memorize  a  purpose,  which  he  does  not 
of  his  own  free  will  accept,  simply  adds  another  burden 
to  the  youngster's  work  and  makes  his  work  and  ours 
more  difficult  when  it  should  have  been  made  more  easy. 

At  this  point  we  stop  to  appreciate  why  a  teacher  who 
"understands  children"  is  often  a  greater  acquisition  to 
our  school  than  a  teacher  who  understands  only  his  sub- 
ject-matter. The  teacher  understanding  children  is  far 
better  able  to  discover  purposes  which  will  appeal  to 
them  and  which  they  will  accept.  No  matter  how  ex- 
pert in  his  specialty  the  teacher  may  be,  no  matter  how 
thorough  his  scholarship  and  his  acquaintance  with  his 
subject-matter,  unless  he  can  also  put  himself  in  his  pu- 
pils' place  and  work  out  purposes  that  appeal  to  his  pu- 
pils, he  will  fail  not  only  in  the  project  method  of  instruc- 
tion, but  indeed  in  his  real  usefulness  to  the  school  in 
which  he  is  employed. 

In  so  far  as  some  teachers  in  the  senior  high  school 
typify,  as  we  must  admit  they  not  infrequently  do,  the 
type  we  last  described,  to  that  same  extent  they  furnish  in 
their  persons  as  well  as  in  their  work,  arguments  for 
recruiting  our  secondary  school  teachers  from  the  more 
expert  workers  in  the  grades  below. 

The  junior  high  school  is  in  a  peculiar  position  of 
advantage  in  being  able  to  avail  itself  of  the  services 
of  teachers  who,  understanding  children  through  pre- 
vious elementary  school  experience,  have  later  perhaps 
become  eligible  for  promotion  through  an  acquired 
knowledge  of  the  subject-matter  that  they  are  now 
called  upon  to  teach. 

And  yet  in  neither  extreme  is  the  best  teacher  found. 
Even  though  the  advantage  in  using  the  project  method 


238  THE   JUNIOR  HIGH   SCHOOL  IDEA 

may  lie  with  the  teacher  who  understands  children,  the 
best  teacher  will  always  be  he  who  understands  both  the 
pupil  and  his  subject.  If  we  have  raised  an  issue  here, 
it  is  chiefly  to  emphasize  one  phase  of  the  project  method 
overlooked.  The  teacher  must  not  only,  through  his 
intimate  and  thorough  knowledge  of  his  specialty,  be 
able  to  discover  worthy  purposes  for  ,  his  daily  work, 
but  he  must  equally  through  his  intimate  and  thorough 
knowledge  of  children  and  child-mind,  be  able  to  induce 
his  pupils  to  accept  as  their  very  own,  the  purposes  he 
proposes. 

Stripped  of  all  explanations  and  illustrations,  the  proj- 
ect method  in  its  complete  adoption  proposes  to  carry 
forward  the  work  in  each  subject,  by  placing  before  the 
children  who  are  studying  that  subject  a  series  of  care- 
fully planned  purposes  or  problems,  which  the  skillful  and 
sympathetic  teacher  leads  the  children  to  accept  as  their 
i' cry  own. 

The  very  antithesis  of  the  project  method  of  in- 
struction is  the  assignment  without  word  or  comment  of 
"the  next  ten  examples"  "the  next  ten  sentences."  "the 
next  ten  facts,"  "the  next  ten  pages."  No  question  is 
raised,  no  problem  is  at  issue  —  the  task  is  set;  that  is 
enough. 

On  the  contrary,  the  very  acme  of  the  project  method 
is  the  proposal  by  the  teacher  and  acceptance  by  the 
class  of  a  project,  or  a  problem  whose  successful  com- 
pletion compels  the  pupil  to  acquire  the  information  or 
skill  desired  by  the  teacher  while  enticing  the  pupil  to 
work  earnestly  and  of  his  own  free  will  toward  the  solu- 
tion which  he  in  turn  eagerly  desires. 

'Teaching  Technique  Adjusted  to  the  Project  Method" 
was  the  subject  of  a  talk  by  Professor  Frank  MeMurray 
before  the  Alumni  of  Teachers  College  recently.     The 


PROJECT   METHOD  OF  INSTRUCTION  239 

following  are  in  part  Professor  McMurray's  suggestions: 

Children  come  to  school  to  get  purposes,  they  do  not 
come  with  purposes  ready  made.  The  teacher  of  each 
grade  must  be  an  expert  in  the  purposes  of  the  work  of 
her  grade.  These  purposes  must  be  thoroughly  under- 
stood by  the  teacher  who  must  by  her  sympathetic  under- 
standing of  her  class  induce  them  to  accept  as  their 
own,  worthy  purposes  to  hold  them  to  their  school  work. 

Teachers  need  to  know  why  each  subject  receives  us 
place  in  the  curriculum  and  why  it  appears  as  it  does  in 
the  plan  of  her  grade. 

There  may  be  one  big  purpose  for  all  the  work,  but 
there  will  be  many  minor  purposes  which  may  cover 
only  a  part  of  one  subject,  even  only  a  few  days'  work 
in  that  subject.  These  minor  purposes  which  hold  the 
pupil  willingly  to  his  work  for  the  day  or  week  may  be 
called  projects.  Finding  a  worthy  project  which  the  class 
will  eagerly  adopt  is  the  first  big  problem  in  teaching  by 
the  project   method. 

The  second  step  is  to  secure  an  active  self-expression 
and  creative  effort  on  the  part  of  the  pupils.  It  is  a 
mistake  to  think  that  we  need  many  projects  in  action 
;it  the  same  time.  A  project  for  each  pupil  would  be  a 
bad  plan  even  if  we  could  furnish  each  pupil  a  separate 
teacher.  Pupils  need  training  in  cooperative  effort.  They 
must  be  trained  ^to  help  each  other  as  well  as  to  help 
themselves.  A  recitation  under  the  project  method  i- 
a  report  of  the  committee  at  work  on  that  project  - 
usually  merely  a  report  of  progress  with  the  progress 
outlined  and  checked  up. 

The  teacher's  work  is  to  correct  errors  that  will  creep 
into  tin:-;  report  and  to  show  the  pupils  the  easiest  and 
best  way  to  get  the  material  for  their  next  report. 

The  finished  report  of  the  class  may  be  finally  sum- 


240  THE  JUNIOR   HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

marized  by  the  class  and  the  teacher  —  for  the  purposes 
of  record  and  review. 

Two  good  projects  illustrating  the  principles  enumer- 
ated, are  quoted  from  Professor  McMurray: 

1.  For  the  eighth  year  arithmetic,  "How  best  could  I  invest 

one  thousand  dollars?" 

This  requires  knowledge  of  stocks  and  bonds  —  of  interest 
returns  on  market  values  —  of  the  relative  values  of 
certain  types  of  investments  —  of  savings  banks  and  com- 
pound interest  and  indeed  of  a  large  fraction  of  the  work 
now  covered  in  the  eighth  school  year. 

2.  For  the  fifth  year  geography,  "What  could  I  observe  on  a 

leisurely  trip  by  rail,  boat  or  auto  from  New  York  City 
to  Dnluth,  Minn0" 

This  arouses  an  interest  in  the  topography,  agriculture  and 
industries  of  the  region  covered.  Thus  pupils  learn  the 
usual  geography  of  this  region  in  a  new  and  unusually 
interesting  way. 

The  concrete  examples  taken  by  Professor  McMurray 
from  the  arithmetic  and  geography  of  the  lower  grades 
may  serve  to  suggest  similar  possibilities  in  our  own 
specialty,  but  it  is  hardly  within  the  scope  of  our  present 
discussion  to  lay  out  a  series  of  model  projects  in  the 
various  subjects  of  instruction.  Our  aim  here  is  simply 
to  show  the  necessity  of  finding  projects,  if  we  are  really 
to  accomplish  the  best  results  of  which  we  are  capable. 

Possibly  it  may  seem  to  require  an  inventiveness  which 
we  do  not  possess  to  link  up  something  in  which  children 
may  be  honestly  interested,  with  the  topic  we  may  be 
obliged  to  teach.  Right  here  the  extremists  will  pro- 
claim that  those  who  cannot  find  worthy  pupil-projects 
for  their  work  should  not  be  allowed  to  teach  at  all. 
Indeed  there  is  an  increasing  number  of  students  of 
teaching  and  supervision  who  would  make  this  ability 
to  establish  the  reasonableness  of  each  teacher's  specialty 


PROJECT   METHOD   OF   INSTRUCTION  241 

the  basic  requirement  in  licensing  all  junior  high  school 
teachers. 

Without  taking  this  extreme  position,  though  it  is 
to  an  extent  a  defensible  one,  we  may  be  permitted  to 
close  our  chapter  with  a  discussion  of  one  concrete  sug- 
gestion that  all  teachers  may  find  valuable. 

The  point  of  beginning  for  a  worthy  project  is  not, 
as  it  might  seem,  the  topic  which  we  wish  to  teach,  but, 
instead,  the  things  our  pupils  are  now  interested  in  doing 
or  learning  to  do.  We  must  be  opportunists  to  a  marked 
degree,  in  that  we  must  seize  upon  those  worthy  interests 
which  the  school  life,  the  newspapers,  the  local  adult 
interests  make  predominant  interests  in  the  children's 
minds  for  the  time.  Find,  if  we  can,  what  the  majority 
of  our  pupils  in  each  class  are  most  interested  in  at  the 
time  our  new  topic  is  to  be  taught  and  then  study  the 
point,  or  points,  where  this  interest  may  be  led  to  reach 
the  new  topic  we  must  teach. 

Right  here  the  proponents  of  the  old  "study  because  it 
is  your  duty"  type  of  teaching  will  take  issue  with 
us  because  we  will  be  accused  of  a  sort  of  mental  trickery 
in  stretching  the  pupil's  present  interests  to  reach  topics 
that  may  seem  very  foreign  to  them.  To  a  certain  ex- 
tent, these  objectors  may  appear  to  be  justified.  They 
themselves  have  never  given  much  thought  to  the  pos- 
sibilities of  joining  pupil's  interests  with  the  topics  they 
have  been  in  the  habit  of  teaching  and  so,  failing  to  rec- 
ognize any  connections,  they  assume  that  none  exist. 
The  discoverer  of  alleged  connections  is  accused  of  simply 
fooling  the  pupils  and  therefore  is  to  be  vigorously  con- 
demned. 

A  careful  analysis  of  the  situation  will,  however,  con- 
vince us  that  even  the  objectors  to  our  project-teaching 
have  been  project-teachers  themselves,  did  they  but  know 


242  THE  JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL  IDEA 

it.  The  project  that  these  "study  because  it  is  your  duty" 
teachers  have  been  all  unconsciously  proposing  to  each 
succeeding  class,  is  a  project  which,  if  stated  in  the  pupils' 
words,  might  often  read,  "How  can  I  avoid  a  failing  mark 

in ?"  or  "What  must  I  learn  about to  avoid 

some  kind  of  punishment  from  the  teacher?"  The  newer 
project-teaching  merely  plans  to  substitute  a  project 
based  on  information  which  the  pupil  may  be  led  to 
desire  for  himself,  rather  than  upon  information  which 
the  pupil  feels  that  he  needs  only  to  escape  the  teacher's 
censure.  Our  newer  plan  finds  nothing  to  apologize  for 
in  establishing  connections  which  the  older  plan  has  over- 
looked, or  perhaps,  has  never  looked  for. 

It  is  to  be  presumed  that  every  topic  in  every  sub- 
ject taught  in  the  junior  high  school  will  be  taught  be- 
cause  it  has  some  other  purpose  than  of  giving  the  pupil 
the  basis  of  school  "marks"  and  school  "promotion." 
If  ever  a  topic  can  be  found  that  bears  no  relation 
whatsoever  to  "those  worthy  things  our  pupils  do  any- 
way." then  we  have  the  strongest  possible  grounds  for  its 
total  rejection  as  not  being  "material  in  itself  worth 
while."  However,  we  would  do  well  to  hesitate  before 
condemning  any  topic  because  we  ourselves  cannot,  at 
first,  see  its  connection  with  the  pupils'  present  interests. 
On  the  contrary,  we  may  do  best  by  assuming  that  a  con- 
nection exists,  if  we  will  but  make  a  serious  study  of  the 
situation. 

For  the  consolation  of  those  who  feel  the  task  too 
difficult,  may  we  not  say  that  others  in  the  same  frame 
of  mind  have  worked  out  solution  after  solution  until 
they  were  able  finally  to  make  practically  all  their 
work  appear  reasonable  and  interesting  to  the  pupils  who 
were  asked  to  study  it,  by  starting  with  things  the  pupils 
reallv  wanted  to  learn. 


PROJECT   METHOD  OF   INSTRUCTION  243 

As  a  starting  point  may  we  propose  a  project  for  those 
of  us  who  have  been  convinced  that  our  pupils  may  be 
led  to  study  because  of  the  added  information,  or  power, 
they  themselves  really  desire  at  the  time.  Let  us  give  our 
pupils  a  sheet  of  blank  paper  upon  which  each  will  be  asked 
to  write  three  or  four  things  he  himself  is  honestly  most  in- 
terested in  learning  more  about  right  here  and  now.  After 
we  have  tabulated  our  results,  let  us  take  them  home  and 
compare  these  topics  which  the  pupils  propose,  with 
those  topics  that  our  work  requires  us  to  teach. 
Perhaps  we  shall  be  obliged  to  ask  for  assistance  from 
many  others  but  be  assured,  in  the  end,  we  shall  find 
some  connections  between  the  two.  Upon  these  con- 
nections we  may  then  base  our  class  projects,  being 
assured,  however  slender  our  connections  may  be,  that 
wTe  have  made  some  progress  in  the  right  direction. 

In  our  discussiou  of  the  Socialized  Recitation  which 
follows,  we  may  get  further  help  in  finding  ways  and 
means  of  utilizing  —  not  one  interest  and  so  one  proj- 
ect for  our  entire  class  —  but  in  using  some  projects  that 
will  appeal  to  certain  of  our  pupils  and  other  projects 
that  will  appeal  to  others,  thus  simplifying  our  diffi- 
culties and  yet  achieving  the  desired  results. 


QUESTIONS 

1.  What,  do  I  understand  by  the  "immediateness"  of  project 

teaching? 

2.  Why  should  I  make  a  study  of  the  reasonableness  of  my 

specialty  to  the  pupils  I  teach? 

3.  What  worthy  deferred  purposes  can  I  propose  for  students 

of  my  subject? 

4.  Why  cannot  all  worthy  immediate  purposes  be  also  planned 

in  advance? 

5.  Why  is  the  finding  of  worthy  immediate  purposes  so  diffi' 

cult? 


244  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

G.  What  advantage  here  has  the  teacher  who  understands 
children,  over  the  teacher  who  only  understands  his 
specialty0 

7.  How  can  I  train  myself  to  find  worthy  immediate  purposes 
for  my  pupils? 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE  SOCIALIZED  RECITATION  IN  THE  JUNIOR 
HIGH   SCHOOL 

A  few  years  ago  the  socialized  recitation  was  heralded 
as  a  most  desirable  innovation  in  school  work.  Today 
one  hears  less  of  it  as  a  distinct  classroom  method  and 
yet  the  very  publicity  given  to  this  proposed  improvement 
has  left  its  mark  on  all  class  work  in  the  better  type  of 
schools.  In  those  institutions  beyond  the  grade  of  high 
school  where  teachers  have  been  given  their  education, 
in  the  colleges  especially,  the  predominant  type  of  in- 
struction has  been,  and  to  a  lesser  extent  still  is,  the  lec- 
ture method.  Students  were  expected  to  come  to  their 
college  class  room  with  notebooks,  pads,  pens  and  pen- 
cils, and  to  sit  in  silence  for  an  hour,  taking  such  written 
memoranda  of  what  the  professor  said  as  seemed  to  them 
most  essential.  The  professor's  part  was  to  give  all  the 
information,  to  do  all  the  talking.  The  student's  part 
was  to  sit,  quietly  attentive,  absorbing  and  remembering 
what  he  could  of  the  information  that  the  professor  laid 
before  him. 

No  one  has  ever  maintained  that  this  lecture  method 
was  ;i  desirable  type  of  work  for  younger  children,  but, 
nevertheless,  as  more  college  men  and  women  entered 
upon  the  work  of  teaching  there  was,  perhaps,  uncon- 
sciously, more  and  more  of  the  lecture  method  injected 
into  high  school  instruction  and  it  even  began  to  work 
its  way  down  into  the  elementary  school  grades. 

245 


246  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL  IDEA 

To  bring  the  situation  squarely  to  the  attention  of 
students  of  good  teaching,  one  or  more  deeper  inves- 
tigators devised  the  scheme  of  taking  stenographic  re- 
ports of  scores  of  recitations  selected  at  random  in  sev- 
eral schools.  The  published  results  of  these  recitations 
disclosed  a  situation  that  was  at  once  recognized  as  well 
nigh  universal,  as  well  as  highly  undesirable.  By  and 
large,  it  was  found  that  in  the  average  upper  grade 
class  room  the  teacher  did  from  three-quarters  to  nine- 
tenths  of  all  the  talking — or  conversely,  that  the  children 
were  permitted  to  take  an  active  part  in  their  own  class- 
room education  for  not  more  than  one-quarter  of  the  time 
—  usually  much  less  —  while  for  the  remainder  they  were 
supposed  to  sit  still  and  "absorb"  what  the  teacher  was 
attempting  to  disclose  or  explain.  Pro-rated  equally 
among  the  pupils  of  a  junior  high  school  class  of  thirty- 
five  children,  it  would  mean  that  in  a  recitation  of  forty- 
five  minutes  any  one  individual  pupil  would  be  allowed 
no  more  than  twenty  seconds  for  his  individual  speaking 
part  in  that  class  gathering. 

On  the  same  basis,  for  the  four  or  five  daily  recitations 
attended  by  each  pupil  in  a  junior  high  school,  each  pupil 
would  receive,  as  his  own  individual  and  peculiar  oppor- 
tunity to  express  himself,  a  maximum  of  less  than  two 
minutes,  often  less  than  one  minute,  for  all  the  recitations 
of  an  entire  school  day. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  we  know  that  some  pupils  al- 
ways take  much  more  than  their  proportionate  two  min- 
utes, but  we  also  know  that  there  are  always  more  who 
take  absolutely  no  part  at  all  in  many  recitations  on 
many  days. 

To  meet  the  objections  so  evident  in  recitations  of  the 
customary  type  where  the  teacher  had  the  only  speak- 
ing part,  it  has  been  proposed  to  turn  over  the  recita- 


THE   SOCIALIZED   RECITATION  247 

tion  to  the  pupils  who,  under  the  teacher's  skillful  guid- 
ance, should  themselves  propose  the  questions  other  pu- 
pils were  to  answer  and,  through  a  chairman  of  their 
own,  were  to  reverse  the  time  ratio  giving  the  pupils 
more  than  three-quarters  and  the  teacher  less  than  one- 
quarter  of  the  class  time  devoted  to  oral  work. 

In  voluntary  gatherings  of  adult  citizens  where  men 
or  women  meet  "to  do  business,"  whether  in  clubs,  so- 
cieties, or  business  groups,  it  is  customary  for  all  who 
are  interested,  or  informed,  to  take  some  part  in  the 
discussion  and  for  each  from  his  special  viewpoint  to 
contribute  as  much  as  he  is  able  to  make  the  joint  decision 
a  wise  and  profitable  one.  When  special  provision  is 
necessary,  to  gather  information  which  is  not  at  hand, 
committees  are  appointed  and  their  reports  are  heard 
at  subsequent  meetings.  So  the  group  "does  business" 
by  pooling  their  experience  and  their  intelligence  to  the 
end  that  each  one  in  the  group  benefits  by  the  com- 
bined wisdom  of  all.  Furthermore,  each  one,  even  though 
he  be  voted  down,  is  a  co-partner  in  the  enterprise  or 
undertaking;  his  part  counts  for  something  worth  while 
to  all  the  others,  even  if  that  part  be  nothing  more  than 
to  say  "aye"  or  "no"  when  the  final  vote  is  taken. 

If  school  life  is  to  be  in  any  real  sense  a  preparation  for 
life  outside  the  school — and  still  more  if  we  consider  school 
life,  to  be  not  a  preparation  for  life  outside  of  school, 
but  a  real  part  of  it  —  there  is  need  for  revising  the  cus- 
tomary school  room  practice  to  make  it  more  natural  ami. 
indeed,  more  civilized  by  giving  the  pupils  in  their 
various  recitations  an  opportunity  to  approximate,  to 
some  extent  at  least,  the  methods  of  "doing  business" 
which  their  grown-up  friends  use  when  they  meet  vol- 
untarily in  organizations  outside  the  home. 

The  socialized  recitation   in   its   extreme   application 


248  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL  IDEA 

may  present  a  more  or  less  accurate  copy  of  a  study-club 
of  adults.  Under  the  astute  guidance  of  a  teacher  of 
most  unusual  ability,  such  a  class  recitation  may  appear 
to  run  itself.  Some  pupils  propose  propositions  which 
others  discuss,  evaluate  and  decide;  all  the  pupils  are 
self-active,  all  are  eager  participants.  The  teacher, 
though  present  in  person,  seems  absent  so  far  as  par- 
ticipation in  the  class  discussion  is  concerned.  One  can 
but  be  tremendously  impressed  by  witnessing  such  a 
recitation  where  everything  possible  under  the  older 
methods  of  work  is  secured  and,  in  addition,  so  much 
animation,  life  and  enjoyment  are  manifested  by  the 
pupils,  whose  previous  part  had  been  only  to  sit  still  and 
listen. 

If,  however,  we  are  to  look  behind  the  curtain,  we 
may  discover  a  high  degree  of  artificiality  in  all  that 
apparently  took  place  so  naturally,  before  our  eyes. 
We  might  find  that  this  socialized  recitation  which  we 
have  witnessed  was  most  skillfully  planned  in  advance, 
almost  as  one  might  stage  a  play  —  that  each  pupil  was 
trained  to  do  his  special  part  and  that  this  single  rec- 
itation took  hours  of  preparatory  work  on  the  teacher's 
part  to  make  it  the  success  that  we  observed.  Many 
of  us  may  have  witnessed  prepared  recitations  where 
the  whole  truth  might  be  not  far  different  from  the  one 
just  described. 

Critics  now  may  maintain  that  our  pupils  do  not  meet 
in  their  class  room  with  their  teacher  on  an  equal  foot- 
ing —  as  do  men  and  women  who  gather  in  voluntary 
groups,  but  that  the  class  room  more  nearly  approxi- 
mates the  conditions  in  the  pupil's  home  where  mother 
and  father  rarely  call  committee  meetings  of  their 
children  to  decide  what  is  best  for  them  to  eat,  or  to 
wear,  or  when  to  go  to  bed.     It  may  further  be  con- 


THE   SOCIALIZED   RECITATION  249 

tended  that  if  children  were  able  largely,  if  not  wholly, 
to  conduct  the  recitations  themselves,  we  should  not 
need  trained  teachers  to  teach  each  class,  but  only  one 
super-teacher  to  plan  tasks  for  each  recitation  group 
within  a  school. 

We  have  then  two  extreme  points  of  view  with  con- 
tentions of  undoubted  validity  at  each  extreme.  In 
our  junior  high  school  we  have,  as  a  rule,  pupils  who 
are  better  able  to  judge  for  themselves  than  are  their 
younger  brothers  in  the  elementary  school,  but  who  are 
still  far  from  adult  intelligence  in  matters  of  information 
and  judgment.  To  expect  these  children  to  conduct 
their  own  recitations  without  more  preparation  and  train- 
ing than  the  average  teacher  is  prepared  to  give,  is  an 
absurdity  that  answers  itself.  On  the  contrary,  we  may 
find  it  just  as  absurd  to  expect  these  children  to  be  best 
educated  by  a  process  which  regards  them  as  sponges  to 
soak  up  the  stream  of  knowledge,  large  or  small,  which  the 
teacher  pours  forth. 

Taking  a  middle  ground  in  the  junior  high  school  we 
may  grant  that  the  pupil  should  at  least  be  permitted  to 
express  himself  daily  in  his  recitations  whenever,  in  the 
teacher's  judgment,  such  an  expression  may  help  the 
work  of  others  in  his  class.  It  becomes  the  junior  high 
school  teacher's  duty  then  to  be  constantly  alert  to  the 
possibility  of  securing  genuine  contributions  from  every 
pupil  for  the  advancement  of  the  class  lesson.  A  teacher 
who  has  the  better  point  of  view  will  never  tell  a  fact, 
or  explain  a  process,  which  some  pupil,  under  guidance 
and  with  slight  assistance,  can  tell  plainly  in  approxi- 
mately the  same  length  of  time. 

To  this  extent  at  least,  we  will  agree  that  every  junior 
high  school  recitation  ought  to  be  "socialized"  by  making 
it  incumbenl  upon  the  teacher  to  consider  his  class  as 


250  THE  JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

a  group  working  with  him  toward  a  common  end  — the 
appreciation  of  some  new  question,  proposition,  proc- 
ess. To  the  same  extent  the  teacher  ceases  to  be  a 
superior,  a  lecturer,  and  places  himself  more  on  the 
pupil'-  own  level  in  order  to  work  with  him  for  a  com- 
mon purpose  rather  than  to  work  at  him  upon  a  task 
in  which  the  pupil  may  have  no  sincere  concern. 

Instead  of  expecting  each  pupil  simply  to  listen  to, 
and  absorb,  the  wisdom  of  the  teacher,  we  should  ex- 
pect each  junior  high  school  pupil  to  be  constantly  alert 
to  contribute  something  which  will  make  the  progress 
of  the  class  more  rapid  and  more  sure,  toward  that  com- 
plete understanding  of  the  lesson  which  is  the  aim  of  the 
socialized  class.  The  pupil  now  may  be  expected  to 
raise  his  hand,  or  claim  the  floor,  not  to  show  that  he 
individually  has  grasped  the  point  in  advance  of  others,- 
or  not  to  show  the  teacher  how  much  "  smarter"  he  is  than 
his  fellows.  On  the  contrary,  if  a  pupil  now  asks  the 
floor,  it  will  be  to  offer  some  suggestion,  or  to  give  a 
point  of  view  that  will  help  his  classmates  to  learn  what 
he  believes  will  help  them  to  secure  a  better  appreciation 
of  the  topic  under  discussion. 

Pupil  help  in  class  room  instruction,  however,  must  not 
be  confused,  either  in  the  teacher's,  or  the  pupil's  mind, 
with  that  blurting  out  of  information  which  robs  the  one 
who  has  the  floor  of  the  right  to  make  his  own  contribu- 
tion. The  over-smart,  or  over-  impulsive,  pupil  who  wants 
to  answer  every  question,  or  explain  every  difficulty, 
must  be  led  to  see  that  he  is,  however  unintentionally, 
no  better  than  a  thief  if  he  robs  a  classmate  of  his  oppor- 
tunity to  make  a  personal  contribution.  When  con- 
tributions are  asked  from  volunteers  the  brighter  pupil's 
opportunity  will  come,  but  when  a  fellow  pupil  has  the 
floor  he  must  respect  him  as  he  himself  would  hope  to  be 
respected  in  a  like  situation. 


THE   SOCIALIZED   RECITATION  251 

Similarly,  while  it  may  be  both  fitting  and  proper  for 
two  or  more  pupils  to  work  out  their  home  assignment 
together,  and  much  may  be  said  for  the  value  of  such 
cooperative  effort,  especially  when  all  the  partners  are 
on  the  same  intellectual  level,  still  this  must  not  be  con- 
fused with  lending  home  work,  that  a  less  industrious, 
or  more  selfish,  classmate  may  copy  it  and  present  it 
as  his  own.  Just  as  it  is  unfair  for  one  pupil  to  steal 
another's  contribution  in  the  class  room,  it  is  equally 
unfair  to  pauperize  a  classmate  by  depriving  him  of 
that  training  in  self-help  which  each  one  in  the  class 
is  supposed  to  receive  by  home  preparation  of  assigned 
tasks. 

The  boy  who  can  be  led  to  see  that  the  habitual  lending 
of  his  prepared  written  work  weakens  rather  than  helps 
his  friend  and  makes  his  friend  more  and  more  a  helpless 
parasite,  will  be  less  ready  to  harm  his  friend  by  appear- 
ing to  help  him.  Even  the  would-be  borrower,  when  he  has 
to  present  his  results  to  his  classmates  rather  than  to  his 
teacher,  may  feel  somewhat  differently  about  sailing 
under  false  colors.  In  school-boy  ethics  it  may,  in  some 
sections,  be  fair  sport  to  deceive  the  teacher,  but  there 
are  few  localities  where  constantly  tricking  one's  fellows 
is  ever  given  the  continued  approval  of  the  gang.  In- 
deed we  may  hope  to  have  our  pupils  accept  to  a  greater 
degree  than  before  Polonius'  advice  "Neither  a  borrower 
nor  a  lender,  be." 

So  it  is  that  a  proper  conception  of  the  co-partner- 
ship of  the  class  in  the  business  of  getting  an  education 
may  extend  and  should  extend  beyond  the  class  room 
door  in  its  influence  on  the  pupil's  character  as  we1'  as 
upon  his  progress  in  school.  Our  improvement  in  method 
is  surely  ethical,  but  it  is  more  than  that. 

As  high  school  teachers  are  often  heard  to  say,  regard- 


252  THE   JUNIOR  HIGH   SCHOOL  IDEA 

ing  difficult  steps  in  their  own  specialty,  "I  never  really 
understood  those  steps  until  I  began  to  teach  them"  — 
thus  giving  voice  to  the  truth  that  by  helping  others 
to  appreciate  we  often  appreciate  more  fully  ourselves, 
so  high  school  students  by  being  given  an  opportunity 
in  the  class  room  to  help  each  other  may  be  permitted 
to  gain  that  same  better  insight,  or  higher  appreciation, 
that  comes  only  through  actually  assisting  in  the  teach- 
ing of  others. 

Indeed  if  once  we,  as  teachers,  set  as  our  aim  the  with- 
holding of  any  information  which  the  class  may  con- 
tribute without  too  great  loss  of  time,  we  may  then  be 
led  to  go  even  farther  and  begin  to  believe  that  we  should 
give  no  instruction  in  the  class  room  that  some  pupil,  or 
pupils,  may  give  for  us  without  greatly  delaying  the 
class  progress. 

Let  us  confess  that  the  great  barrier  of  letting  our 
pupils  do  all  they  are  able,  in  our  recitations,  is  the 
element  of  time.  Skilled  as  we  may  be  in  the  work  at 
hand,  familiar  as  we  are  with  the  steps  in  the  process, 
knowing  as  we  do  in  advance  all  the  difficulties  of  the 
lesson,  we  may  well  hesitate  to  delay  the  class  progress 
by  asking  contributions  from  those  infinitely  inferior 
in  information  and  training. 

Is  it  not  better  for  us  to  go  ahead  explaining  (lecturing 
if  we  must),  laying  the  whole  matter  before  the  class, 
in  a  manner  so  manifestly  simple  that  all  have  but  to 
attend  in  order  to  comprehend?  In  the  past  the  custom- 
ary answer  has  been,  "Surely.  Teach,  tell,  explain;  that  is 
what  you  are  paid  for."  Yet  the  results  in  the  past  have 
not  been  so  surprisingly  superior  that  we  are  led  to  be- 
lieve there  can  be  no  improvement.  No  matter  how 
skillful  may  have  been  our  presentation  of  a  new  topic 
we  have  been  perennially  surprised  by  the  large  number 


THE   SOCIALIZED   RECITATION  253 

who  always  showed  in  their  written  reviews  that  they 
had  not  remembered  our  presentation,  even  if  they  fol- 
lowed it  at  the  time.  Might  we  not,  on  the  whole,  have 
been  saved  the  time  we  spent  in  going  over  a  presentation 
a  second,  a  third  and  even  a  fourth  time,  in  order  to  make 
it  carry  over,  if  we  had  given  the  pupils  themselves  a 
hand  in  that  first  presentation? 

After  all,  it  is  not  the  educational  feast  we  place  be- 
fore our  pupils  that  nourishes  them,  but  rather  what  they 
accept  and  assimilate  that  strengthens  their  mental  make- 
up. From  time  immemorial  horses  have  been  led  to 
water,  frequently  with  disappointing  results.  We  know 
that  it  is  equally  true  that  we  may  lead  our  pupils  to  in- 
formation without  being  able  to  make  them  think.  How- 
ever, if  that  withholding  of  thought  by  the  pupil  ceases 
to  be  a  matter  of  his  individual  loss,  but  rather  a  bar- 
rier to  the  progress  of  his  fellows,  the  normal  good- 
willed  boy  or  girl  becomes  alive  to  a  new  pressure  that 
may  gain  results  where  the  selfish  appeal  might  have 
failed. 

Not  only  in  development  lessons  where  the  matter 
under  discussion  is  presumably  new  to  the  class,  but 
even  more  in  review  lessons  where  the  topics  have  been 
previously  discussed  and  explained  in  class,  is  teaching 
through  the  pupils  a  most  valuable  aid  to  progress. 

For  example,  instead  of  merely  assigning  a  certain 
topic-  for  review  at  home  to  be  tested  by  the  teacher's 
questions  on  the  following  day,  let  the  teacher  request 
each  pupil  to  write  out  and  bring  in  five  or  ten  questions 
suitable  for  the  review  that  is  planned.  Further,  let  it  be 
understood  that  each  pupil  who  proposes  a  question  to 
his  classmates  stands  ready  to  supply,  whenever  neces- 
sary, the  correct  answer  himself.  Working  at  the  black- 
board, the  teacher  calls  on  a  pupil  to  read  his  best  ques- 


254  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

tion.  The  pupil  reads  his  question  and  may  be  called 
upon  to  explain,  without  answering  it,  why  it  is  a  good 
question.  Class  criticism  may  be  invited  for  a  moment 
and  the  class  may  even  be  asked  quickly  to  vote  by 
a  show  of  hands  whether  the  question  is  acceptable.  If, 
with  the  teacher's  approval,  the  question  is  accepted, 
it  may  be  written  on  the  board  for  all  to  check  off  on 
their  own  lists,  or  to  copy  down  if  they  have  not  brought 
it  in  themselves. 

Then  the  question  may  be  put  to  a  pupil  of  his  own 
selection  by  the  boy  who  brought  it  in  —  passing  the 
question  from  boy  to  boy  until  an  answer  is  secured 
that  meets  the  questioner's  entire  approval.  Other  boys 
who  had  prepared  the  same  question  and  answer  may 
be  called  upon  if  necessary  to  bring  out  a  more  perfect 
exposition. 

So  it  may  go  throughout  most  of  the  recitation  or 
review  —  the  pupils,  aided  by  the  teacher's  censorship, 
proposing  and  answering  their  own  questions. 

Even  for  a  written  review,  the  pupils  may  hand  in 
a  set  of  proposed  examination  questions  from  which  the 
teacher  may  select  those  for  the  day's  review,  adding  to 
them  or  revising  them,  usually  with  a  word  of  expla- 
nation, as  the  necessities  suggest.  Thus  the  final  ques- 
tions as  they  appear  on  the  blackboard  may  be  largely, 
if  not  wholly,  the  pupils'  own  creation  • —  not  a  task  set 
by  the  teacher,  but  a  test  set  by  the  pupils  themselves. 
By  this  very  method  of  selection  the  class  becomes 
more  eager  to  hand  in  creditable  answers  —  the  pre- 
sumption of  reasonableness  being  to  the  class  inherent 
in  a  set  of  questions  which  the  class  itself  proposes.  The 
attitude  of  antagonism  to  the  teacher's  alleged  lack  of 
sympathy  or  understanding  in  setting  the  test  is  largely 
changed  to  one  of  willing  cooperation  in  the  effort  to 


THE   SOCIALIZED  RECITATION  255 

secure  good  results  for  the  class  that  has  set  its  own  ex- 
amination. 

Added  to  the  new  spirit  of  willing  cooperation,  comes 
an  increasingly  better  ability  on  the  part  of  the  pupils 
to  ask  good  questions  and  to  answer  them.  t  As  in  Chap- 
ter XIII  we  saw  that  a  recognition  of  relative  values  is 
studying,  we  see  here  how  through  the  ''socialized"  ques- 
tion paper  the  pupils  are  trained  to  pick  out  by  themselves 
the  essentials  that  are  worthy  of  being  made  the  sub- 
ject of  questions  on  their  class  tests.  Indeed  some  may 
go  so  far  as  to  say  that  the  questions  that  a  pupil  pro- 
poses as  proper  ones  for  a  class  review  test  are  a  better 
test  of  that  pupil's  fitness  to  progress  than  would  be  his 
answers  to  the  teacher's  questions.  However,  we  need 
not  go  so  far  as  that,  to  be  convinced  that  good  pupil- 
questioning  is  a  very  potent  help  in  class  room  teaching. 
We  must,  however,  be  willing  to  admit  that  in  so  far 
as  we  have  failed  to  encourage  and  to  train  our  pupils  to 
propose  good  questions,  we  have  failed  to  make  use  of 
a  very  valuable  aid  to  the  teaching  of  our  specialty. 

As  we  experiment  with  giving  our  pupils  a  chance 
to  teach  each  other,  under  our  guidance,  we  will  become 
more  and  more  convinced  that  the  bug-bear  of  slow 
progress  is  not  as  terrible  as  it  at  first  appeared.  Even 
if  as  a  result  we  actually  cover  less  ground,  we  find  that 
at  least  the  ground  we  do  cover  is  unquestionably  more 
secure. 

In  some  subjects  we  may  find  it  worth  while  to  have 
a  pupil  chairman  quite  regularly  for  our  class  work,  but 
the  elaborate  paraphernalia  of  a  socialized  recitation  is 
not  necessary  for  the  success  of  our  idea.  The  show  reci- 
tation may  never  be  staged  in  our  class  room,  yet  if  we 
irrasp  the  newer  point  of  view  our  pupils  are  bound  to 
be  benefited. 


256  THE   JUNIOR  HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

Were  we  to  try  to  give  in  a  single  sentence  the  es- 
sence of  our  newer  conception  of  the  teacher's  class  room 
creed  it  might  be  stated  in  these  words: 

It  is  my  firm  conviction  that  each  pupil  in  my 
various  classes  has  an  unquestionable  right  and, 
equally,  an  unavoidable  obligation  to  contribute 
everything  within  his  power  toward  the  education 
of  his  classmates. 

If  teacher  and  pupils  accept  this  point  of  view  they 
may  find  that  in  so  far  as  they  are  able  to  help  others, 
they  are  themselves  helped  most  of  all.  They  may  find 
at  the  end  that  they  not  only  experienced  happiness  in 
doing  what  was  once  a  hateful  task,  but  that  each  one  has 
gained  for  himself  something  quite  impossible  had  he 
worked  selfishly,  simply  for  himself  alone.  This  is,  I 
take  it,  the  essence  of  good  class  management  for  all  con- 
cerned. 

In  the  best  .conducted  socialized  recitation  we  may 
find  —  indeed  we  must  find,  if  it  is  to  be  the  best  —  many 
other  factors  besides  pupil  participation  from  a  social 
motive. 

We  cannot  have  a  really  successful  socialized  recita- 
tion unless  all  our  pupils  know  fairly  well  why  they  are 
studying  our  subject  at  all.  This  we  discussed  in  our 
chapter  on  General  Method. 

Again  our  pupils  must  have  a  rather  good  idea  of 
just  what  is  the  chief  purpose  of  the  particular  lesson  at 
hand  —  and  this  means  an  ability  to  study  the  subject  of 
the  lesson  at  home  alone  —  in  advance  of  our  recitation. 
Finally  for  the  subject  of  our  combined  study  in  the 
class  room,  we  must  have  a  project  or  a  problem  that  ap- 
peals to  our  pupils  as  something  of  interest  to  them- 
selves largely  uninfluenced  by  our  participation  as  their 
teacher. 


THE   SOCIALIZED   RECITATION  257 

All  this  requires,  if  we  are  to  have  socialized  recitations 
of  this  best  type,  that  we  must  have  a  wide  knowledge 
both  of  our  subject  and  our  pupils,  that  we  must  have  a 
worthy  purpose  for  each  recitation,  that  we  must  have 
used  unusual  skill  in  assigning  the  lesson  in  question,  that 
we  must  have  a  remarkable  amount  of  tact  in  keeping  our 
ideas  prominent,  but  our  person  inconspicuous,  and, 
finally,  that  we  always  have  to  a  remarkable  degree  both 
patience  and  faith  to  keep  us  striving  for  success  in  the 
face  of  failure  and  discouragement. 

In  this  socialized  recitation  it  is  often  the  little  thing 
that  makes  or  mars  the  lesson.  The  impatient  interjec- 
tion by  the  teacher  of  a  curt  word  or  two  may  chill  the 
class  to  silence.  Sarcasm  kills  the  social  purpose  all  too 
frequently.  So  little  a  thing  as  the  seating  arrangement 
of  the  class  may  strengthen  or  destroy  the  social  motive 
of  class  work.  The  usual  military  and  unchanging 
arrangement  of  desks  and  seats,  the  teacher's  desk  in 
front,  actually  makes  cooperative  work  more  difficult. 
Let  one  who  doubts  this,  meet  his  class  for  a  single 
period  weekly  in  a  room  where  the  pupils  may  either 
gather  in  a  circle  about  the  teacher  or  seat  themselves  as 
committee  groups  about  separate  tables.  The  change  in 
the  pupils'  attitude  as  a  result  of  this  apparently  insig- 
nificant modification  is  truly  astonishing.  Even  the 
school-room  furniture  (to  say  nothing  of  school-room  dec- 
oration) seems  to  have  an  effect  upon  the  pupils'  class- 
room spirit  that  many  of  us  may  have  never  imagined. 
All  in  all,  the  genuine  socialized  recitation  is  the 
most  *  difficult  goal  any  teacher  may  set  for  himself 
—  and  yet  a  goal  so  worthy  that  all  who  work  with  and 

*A  brief  analysis  of  some  of  the  things  a  teacher  must  l><  and 
do  in  order  to  conduct  a  thoroughgoing  socialized  recitaticro  may 
help  us  to  appreciate  this  statement. 


258  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL  IDEA 

for  children  must  keep  striving  with  this  goal  forever 
in   view. 

(a)  He  must  have  a  wide  knowledge  of  other  fields  than  his 

own. 

(b)  He  must  propose  a  worthy  and  an  acceptable  purpose  for 

each  recitation. 

(c)  He  must  plan  his  problems  at  least  six  months  in  advance 

so  they  may  be  integral  parts  of  a  progressive  whole. 

(d)  He  must  prepare  each  day's  lesson  to  join  it  up  to  present 

interests  as  well  as  to  past  ones. 

(e)  He  must  have   most   unusual  skill  in  making  daily   assign- 

ments. 
(fi     He  must  lead  by   cooperation  and  not  by  giving   orders, 
(g)     He  must  have  tact  first,  tact  last  and  tact   always, 
(h)     He  must  talk  little,  but  most  effectively. 
(O     He  must  have  patience,  supported  by  an  abiding  faith  in 

the  value  of  the  truly  socialized  recitation. 

QUESTIONS 

1.  Why  has  the  college  lecture  method  of  instruction  invaded 

our  modern  high  schools? 

2.  What   remarkable  disclosure  of  time   allotment   within  a 

lesson  have  recent  investigations  disclosed? 

3.  How  do  adults  do  business  in  their  voluntary  associations? 

4.  What  objections  are  voiced  to  using  this  same  plan  in  the 

junior  high  school'? 

5.  How  may  I  follow  a  middle  course  between  the  lecture 

method  and  the  method  which  puts  the  pupil  in  com- 
mand? 

6.  What  social  purpose  may  I  hope  my  pupils  will  acquire  if 

properly  guided? 

7.  How  may  the  over-impulsive  and   over-helpful  pupil  be 

curbed? 

8.  What  may  make  amends  for  the  slower  progress  of  the 

recitation  that  is  built  up  of  pupil  contributions? 

9.  What  social  plan  would  I  propose  for  review  lessons? 

10.  What  devices  can  I  suggest  that  may  make  the  realization 

of  the  social  purpose  of  the  class  work  more  successful? 

11.  How  does  the  genuine  socialized  recitation  sum  up  the  best 

in  all  class  room  teaching? 


CHAPTER  XVI 

FIELD   WORK   IN   ALL   JUNIOR   HIGH    SCHOOL 
SUBJECTS 

Part  I 
VALUE   OF  FIELD  WORK 

In  most  of  our  larger  American  cities  the  housing  prob- 
lem has  been  a  most  acute  one  during  the  last  few  years. 
The  cost  of  materials  and  of  skilled  labor  have  been 
so  tremendously  in  advance  of  pre-war  rates  that  few 
buildings  have  been  constructed.  Our  school  construction 
has  suffered  no  less  than  other  public  and  private  build- 
ing enterprises  and  in  many  neighborhoods  the  increase 
in  school  population  has  been  decidedly  greater  than  the 
number  of  new  sittings  provided  for  the  children. 

As  a  result  the  educational  authorities  in  many  cities 
have  been  obliged  to  sanction  a  plan  by  which  two  school 
classes  were  obliged  to  be  content  with  the  use  of  a  single 
school  room,  the  actual  class  room  instruction  of  each 
group  being  limited  to  considerably  less  than  the  norma] 
five  hour  period  of  a  full  school  day. 

In  New  York  City  perhaps  more  than  in  any  other 
single  city,  the  inadequacy  of  school  sittings  has  re- 
cently forced  the  introduction  of  some  part-time  plan 
upon  more  and  more  of  the  high  school  population. 

Hardly  a  secondary  school  in  all  Greater  New  York 
was  able  to  furnish  seats  and  desks  for  all  its  entering 
pupils,  Speyer  Experimental  Junior  High  School  suffering 
with  the  others.    The  problem  was  more  acute  at  Speyer 

259 


260  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

School  because  in  a  school  where  the  brighter  pupils  were 
to  be  allowed  to  do  the  three  junior  high  school  years  in 
two,  every  moment  of  the  school  day  was  of  unusual 
value. 

It  was  this  problem  placed  squarely  before  the  teachers 
and  pupils  of  Speyer  School  that  led  to  a  new  type  of 
work  that  seems  to  have  proved  itself  of  sufficient  value 
to  warrant  more  or  less  general  adoption. 

The  considerations  that  led  us  to  the  new  type  of  work 
were  two-fold.  First  was  the  over-crowded  school  build- 
ing that  we  have  discussed,  which  forbade  our  meeting 
all  our  pupils  for  a  full  school  day.  The  second  was  a 
consideration  that  in  no  wise  was  influenced  by  the  over- 
crowded school,  but  rather  by  a  desire  to  work  out  by 
experiment  a  solution  to  another  problem  quite  as  se- 
rious, but  wholly  distinct  from  that  first  described.  This 
second  consideration  was  the  unfortunate  separation  be- 
tween school  work  and  real  work  so  undeniable  in  the  ma- 
jority of  our  conventional  American  public  schools. 

Undoubtedly,  the  separation  of  school  work  and  real 
work  had  its  beginning  in  the  desire  to  make  intellectual 
progress  more  rapid  by  concentrating  upon  what  it  con- 
sidered the  essentials.  In  adult  life  a  man  may  take  ten 
years  in  business  to  learn  what  he  might  teach  another  in 
one  year  if  he  were  freed  from  any  other  business  obli- 
gations while  doing  so.  As  a  helper  in  a  dye  works,  or  a 
paper  mill,  a  man  may  learn  less  about  the  'how"  and 
the  "why"  of  the  various  manufacturing  processes  in  an 
entire  year  than  a  college  student  would  learn  in  an  hour 
of  concentrated  study. 

The  result  in  centuries  of  curriculum  building  has  been 
to  concentrate  often  in  a  month's  work  information  that 
it  took  a  generation  or  more  to  work  out  for  itself  in  the 
field.     More  and  more  the  desire  to  give  in  school  the 


FIELD   WORK   IN   ALL   SUBJECTS  261 

essentials  only,  has  led  to  the  study  of  theories  and  proc- 
esses as  separated  from  their  actual  application  in  the 
world  of  men  at  work  until  finally  we  may  have  arrived  at 
such  a  degree  of  separation  in  certain  subjects  of  study 
that  the  things  we  learn  at  school  seem  to  have  absolutely 
no  connection  with  the  things  that  are  done  outside  the 
school  building. 

Students  of  the  philosophy  of  education  have  often 
bewailed  this  serious  separation  between  the  world  of 
work  and  the  world  of  study.  The  children  and  even  men 
and  women  who  are  pursuing  their  higher  education  have, 
in  many  communities,  come  to  be  regarded  as  a  cloistered 
group,  separate  from  the  world  of  action  and  accom- 
plishment, studying  unreal  things,  academic  theories, 
pursuing  a  sort  of  mental  gymnastics,  that  might  possibly 
be  of  service  later,  but  that  were  in  themselves  largely 
trivialities  or  unrealities  when  contrasted  with  the  serious 
and  real  occupations  of  the  world  at  work. 

These  students  have  asked  if  it  were  not  possible  that 
in  our  anxiety  to  make  for  mental  advancement  we  have 
reached,  or  even  passed,  the  saturation  point  and  that  in 
our  endeavor  to  spare  our  pupils  the  delays  inseparable 
from  learning  through  actual  experience  in  the  field,  we 
have  passed  the  point  where  theory,  separated  from  prac- 
tice, is  of  genuine  value.  Is  it  not  possible,  they  ask,  that 
we  could  give  our  pupils  a  better  education  if  we  took 
them  a  shorter  distance,  perhaps,  into  the  realms  of  theory 
and  used  the  time  thus  saved  to  give  a  less  narrowly 
selected  experience  through  experiments  in  actual  field 
work? 

To  be  sure,  they  will  admit,  there  is  little  to  be  gained 
in  field  work  that  the  super-student  may  not  find  written 
out,  in  the  main,  in  the  text-books  or  treatises  of  some 
publisher.      Nevertheless,   there   may    be   a   great   deal 


262  THE  JUNIOR   HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

that  the  school  boy  or  girl  might  learn  through  practice 
that  it  would  be  impossible  for  the  average  pupil  to  gain 
from  a  printed  page,   even  were   it  open   before  him. 

Is  it  not  then,  they  ask,  possible  for  us  in  school  to 
begin  a  "Back  to  Business"  movement  that  will  counter- 
act the  deadening  effect  of  too  much  theory,  studied  too 
often,  apparently,  by  and  for  itself. 

As  we  have  repeatedly  noted,  our  adolescent  children 
are,  in  general,  inclined  to  look  upon  their  school  work 
as  something  so  theoretical  and  impractical  as  to  be  of 
decidedly  doubtful  value  to  them  after  they  have  left 
school. 

Possibly  no  one  thing  has  contributed  so  much  to 
this  belief  as  has  the  child's  idea  that  what  he  learns 
in  the  class  room  is  valuable  only  there.  Though  in 
a  large  city,  thousands  may  be  studying  and  utilizing 
for  their  work  or  recreation  the  principles  which  he  is 
studying  at  school,  still  the  pupil  never  sees  these  ma- 
ture students,  nor  can  he  from  his  limited  home  environ- 
ment, gain  any  genuine  impression  of  the  nature  or  the 
demands  of  the  work  which  these  others  follow. 

The  idea  of  genuine  field  work  in  which  the  pupils 
not  only  observe  others  gaining  their  livelihood,  or  in- 
creasing their  happiness  by  the  utilization  of  school 
theories,  is  so  new  that  it  as  yet  has  received  scarcely 
any  serious  consideration  in  the  public  schools  of  this 
country.  Yet  in  some  schools  a  beginning,  at  least, 
has  been  made  and  the  results  appear  to  justify  the  ex- 
tra labor  such  a  plan  entails. 

For  years  teachers  of  natural  science  have  been  plan- 
ning excursions  in  after-school  time,  or  on  holidays,  so 
that  the  pupils  might  observe  in  the  field,  or  in  the  fac- 
tory, the  natural  or  manufactured  objects  about  which 
they  have  been  studying.     Yet,  in  the  main,  even  teachers 


FIELD  WORK   IN   ALL  SUBJECTS  263 

of  science  have  preferred  to  bring  in  specimens  or  to 
perform  class  room  experiments  that  would  give  the  in- 
formation they  sought  to  impart.  No  one  who  under- 
stands the  demands  of  natural  science  will  fail  to  recog- 
nize the  value  of  class  laboratory  work,  but  students 
of  this  problem  have  begun  to  see  that  better  results  may 
be  obtained  where  school  room  work  is  supplemented  by 
equally  serious  field  work  entirely  outside  the  school 
building.  To  a  certain  extent  the  so-called  Gary  School 
Plan  attempted  in  theory  to  give  a  type  of  field  work 
in  all  branches  when  it  regularly  assigned  its  younger 
pupils  to  watch  the  varied  class  work  of  the  more  ad- 
vanced students  for  certain  periods  each  week.  The  idea 
here  was,  in  part  at  least,  that  the  younger  pupils  might 
see  the  older  pupils  actually  employing  in  their  daily 
tasks  the  skill  and  information  which  they,  the  younger, 
were  just  now  endeavoring  to  acquire  in  their  own  daily 
class  work. 

Valuable  as  such  observation,  if  properly  directed  and 
supervised,  may  be,  it  has  little  except  convenience  to 
commend  it  in  comparison  with  a  plan  which  chooses  for 
observation  outside-activities  in  which  men  and  women 
are  actually  at  work  earning  their  bread  and  butter. 

In  any  city,  and  especially  in  a  larger  city,  the 
school  opportunities  for  field  work  that  are  usually  neg- 
lected, or  ignored,  are  simply  enormous.  The  opportuni- 
ties for  observing  work  that  is  helpful  in  making  more  real 
the  studies  of  the  junior  high  school  may  be  better  in 
New  York  than  in  many  other  cities  and  towns.  However, 
there  is  scarcely  a  village  in  America  (that  is  large  enough 
to  support  a  junior  high  school)  that  does  not  furnish  in 
its  activities  opportunity  for  showing  the  application  of 
the  child's  school-taught  theories  to  practical  adult  work. 
Indeed  the  village  may,  through  its  more  intimate  per- 


264  THE  JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL  IDEA 

sonal  acquaintance,  offer  opportunities  often  forbidden 
in  a  city. 

Returning  to  our  Speyer  School  problem  we  found  that 
many  of  our  pupils  could  be  housed  in  the  school  building 
scarcely  more  than  half  of  the  time  needed  for  their  school 
work,  though  all  were  sadly  in  need  of  instruction  for  the 
full  school  day.  At  the  same  time,  we  found  pupils  forced 
to  concentrate  upon  the  study  of  text-book  theories  to 
an  extent  that  made  the  proper  joining  up  of  theory  and 
practice  often  an  impossibility. 

The  solution  of  both  difficulties  appeared  to  be  one 
and  the  same  —  assigning  class-room  work  under  class 
teachers  to  periods  of  work  wholly  outside  the  school 
building.  As  an  experiment,  we  tried  to  conduct  a  full 
school  day  with  the  pupils  who  were  only  half  a  day  in 
school.  Two  years  of  successful  experimentation  have  led 
us  to  incorporate  field-work  —  work  outside  the  school 
building  —  as  a  required  part  of  some  of  the  regular 
weekly  program  of  all  classes,  regardless  of  the  seating 
conditions. 

It  will,  however,  be  useless  for  us  to  insist  that  our 
loss  of  school  time  was  always  and  invariably  counter- 
balanced by  an  increase  in  school  interest  and  applica- 
tion to  school  work.  Whether  or  not  the  field-work  is 
worth  while  depends,  when  all  is  said  and  done,  less  upon 
the  field  to  which  the  excursion  is  made  than  it  does  upon 
the  intelligence  and  skill  of  the  teacher  who  conducts 
the  excursion.  Field-trips  are  not,  experience  seems  to 
show,  wholly  valuable  in  themselves  as  it  is  quite  pos- 
sible for  a  class  to  visit  an  open  treasure  trove  and  re- 
turn empty  handed.  Of  this  more  may  be  said  later,  but 
it  is  well  to  have  in  mind  that  the  essential  prerequisite 
for  any  class  excursion  is  a  teacher  who  will  use  the  ex- 
cursion time  to  teach  a  definitely  prepared  lesson,  if  not 


FIELD  WORK  IN   ALL  SUBJECTS  265 

by  word  of  mouth,  then  at  least  through  objects  or  expe- 
riences which  his  foresight  and  careful,  advance  plans 
alone  will  make  significant  to  his  pupils. 

Some  one  may  object  that  we  have  belittled  the  neces- 
sity of  having  enough  worth-while  places  to  visit  and  that 
though  these  field  trips  may  be  well  enough  for  New  York 
children  who  have  the  unusual  opportunities  of  a 
great  city  and  the  carfare  to  spend  in  utilizing  them, 
yet  such  a  plan  would  be  of  little  value  in  a  village  or 
small  city  which  might  be,  nevertheless,  capable  of  sup- 
porting with  profit  a  junior  high  school. 

To  be  sure,  the  wonderful  world-wide  collections  of 
art  and  of  natural  science  in  the  Metropolitan  Museum, 
the  Museum  of  Natural  History,  the  Aquarium,  the  Zoo- 
logical Gardens,  may  be  more  or  less  peculiar  to  New 
York,  but  we  shall  endeavor  to  show  that  neglected 
opportunities  far  in  excess  of  their  possible  use  lie  just 
outside  the  doors  of  even  the  village  school.  It  will  be, 
not  New  York,  but  the  average  American  town  that  we 
shall  have  in  mind  in  outlining  the  possibilities  of  field 
work  in  all  subjects.  Before  the  close  of  our  chapter  we 
may  also  discuss  the  difficulties  that  usually  accompany 
field  work  where  the  objective  material  is  too  abundant. 

On  the  biological  side  of  general  science  there  is  no 
doubt  that  the  possibilities  are  great;  almost  any  vacant 
lot  may  be  surveyed  for  its  plant  and  animal  life  and  may 
furnish  evidences  of  the  struggle  for  existence,  adaptation 
to  environment,  seed  dispersal,  protective  coloring  and 
special  devices  for  self  protection  or  for  propagating 
the  species. 

Agassiz  is  reported  to  have  been  able  to  teach  the 
whole  animal  kingdom  from  the  study  of  a  shell,  but 
it  takes  a  highly  trained  zoologist  to  make  such  a  pro- 
posal.   To  the  extent  that  a  teacher  is  himself  inventive, 


266  THE  JUNIOR   HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

well  informed  and  forehanded,  can  the  (smaller  things 
one  sees  in  a  vacant  lot  be  made  significant.  Trips  to 
the  woods  and  fields  need  no  defense  in  their  possibilities 
for  the  teaching  of  botany  and  zoology,  but  it  takes 
a  trained  teacher  to  see  the  possibilities  in  common 
things.  For  a  New  York  City  example,  almost  every 
back  yard  has  growing  in  it  a  scraggly  bush,  shrub,  or 
tree,  that  the  botanist  knows  as  Ailanthus.  A  whole 
course  in  botany,  interesting,  practical  botany,  lies  in 
every  such  plant  —  the  commonest  tree  in  New  York 
City.  The  history  of  the  importation  of  the  Ailanthus 
from  China  —  where  it  is  known  as  "The  Tree  of 
Heaven" — to  Flushing,  L.  I.,  for  decorative  purposes  a 
century  ago,  how  it  escaped  from  captivity  in  an  arbore- 
tum by  its  winged  seeds,  how  it  throve  because  it  had  no 
enemies  in  America,  having  left  the  insects  that  fed  upon 
it  in  China  thousands  of  miles  away,  how  it  provides 
strong,  healthy  seeds  by  separation  of  the  sexes  in  differ- 
ent trees,  how  pollination  is  unusually  well  provided  for, 
how  by  making  a  super-normal  effort  for  its  first  few 
years  it  grows  like  a  weed  and  takes  foot -hold  where  an 
elm,  a  maple,  or  an  oak  would  be  trampled  down,  how 
later  it  settles  down  to  the  slower  work  of  trunk  and 
branch  strengthening,  how  it  protects  itself  from  wind 
and  ice  and  snow,  how  it  blossoms,  how  it  spreads  its  spe- 
cies —  all  this  and  more  can  be  unfolded  from  the  study 
of  New  York's  commonest  weed-tree,  the  Ailanthus. 

So  in  each  locality  there  may  be  unfolded  from  the 
commonest  and  meanest  things  science  stories  that  inter- 
est and  educate  the  children  in  the  world  of  science. 

On  the  physical  and  chemical  side  of  general  science 
the  school  building  furnishes  opportunities  for  many  in- 
vestigations. The  school  building  has  running  water; 
where  does  it  come  from,  how  is  it  brought  to  the  school, 


FIELD  WORK  IN   ALL  SUBJECTS  267 

how  even  is  its  flow  controlled  in  the  aqueduct,  in  the 
mains,  in  the  faucets  at  the  sink.  All  this  involves  the 
study  and  appreciation  of  scientific  principles  if  the  work 
be  rightly  done.  The  school  heating  apparatus  and  its 
passing  of  the  latent  energy  of  coal  to  the  warmed  air  of 
the  class  room,  is  duplicated  more  or  less  in  every  home 
and  abounds  in  teaching-possibilities,  if  only  the  teacher 
is  capable  of  using  the  material  so  close  at  hand. 

The  town's  lighting  plant,  its  plan  of  sewage  disposal, 
its  transportation  facilities,  are  all  problems  of  scientific 
engineering  that  may  furnish  laboratory  exercises  second 
to  none,  if  the  teacher  knows  how  to  use  his  materials  of 
instruction. 

Natural  Science,  even  in  a  large  settled  city  like  New 
York,  presents  opportunities  that  are  simply  overwhelm- 
ing. To  begin  with  there  is  the  heating  and  ventilating 
system  of  the  school  itself,  its  water  supply,  its  gas  supply, 
even  its  sewerage  to  furnish  scientific  problems.  The 
wonderful  collections  of  living  animals  and  plants  in  the 
Zoological  and  Botanical  Gardens  will  serve  for  many 
excursions.  In  the  winter  there  is  the  never-exhausted 
Museum  of  Natural  History  with  material  for  a  hundred 
valuable  excursions.  The  uncultivated  hills  of  the  Pal- 
isades just  across  the  Hudson  give  opportunity  for  field 
work  such  as  the  country  school  affords,  while  neighbor- 
ing market  gardens  and  public  markets  bring  the  farm 
almost  to  the  city  school  door.  The  difficulty  in  science 
is  always  to  decide  wisely  which  one  of  the  five  or  ten 
possible  and  similarly  attractive  excursions  offers  the 
best  opportunity  lor  pupil  improvement. 

In  excursion  work  the  study  of  natural  science,  because 
of  it-  unequalled  opportunities  and  marked  success,  blazes 
the  trail  which  the  other  subjects  will  SOOD  follow  in 
taking  the  school  pupil  outside  the  class  room  for  school 


268  THE  JUNIOR   HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

work  that  is  fully  as  important  and  serious  as  any  in  the 
recitation  room. 

Mathematics  may  seem  a  very  difficult  subject  to  study 
in  the  field,  but  when  we  consider  arithmetic,  algebra,  or 
geometry,  as  the  "how  much"  or  "how  far"  of  every  scien- 
tific or  business  undertaking,  we  gain  some  idea  of  its 
possibilities.  Visit  the  grocer,  the  butcher,  the  dry-goods 
store,  and  after  pricing  the  goods,  attempt  to  compute 
how  the  price  is  fixed.  The  raw  material,  the  manufac- 
turing process,  the  cost  of  transportation,  the  overhead 
charges  of  rent  and  salaries  in  the  retail  store,  all  must 
be  figured  in  and  made  a  part  of  a  series  of  computations 
that  not  only  requires  plenty  of  figuring,  but  an  appreci- 
ation of  business  methods  that  is  itself  educational. 

Visits  to  a  local  bank  will  allow  the  pupils  to  observe 
the  various  employees  at  work  and  to  learn  their  duties, 
so  making  the  real  need  for  accuracy  in  calculating  as 
well  as  giving  a  genuine  first  hand  conception  of  the 
nature  and  operation  of  a  bank  service  to  the  community. 
A  safe  deposit  vault,  if  visited,  will  give  interest  and 
reality  to  the  study  of  deeds,  mortgages  and  bonds. 

Modern  instruments  of  rapid  calculation — adding  ma- 
chines, comptometers,  slide  rules,  etc.,  may  be  observed 
at  work  or  in  the  stores  where  they  are  sold.  Instruments 
of  mathemetical  precision — gauges,  micrometers,  weights 
and  measures  used  in  exact  calculations  —  may  also  be 
observed  and  explained. 

All  the  more  common  machines  used  in  modern  steel 
construction  may  be  observed  at  work  and  shown,  in  cases 
selected  for  illustration,  to  have  a  mathematical  basis. 

Somewhere  in  town  there  is  a  new  building  going  up; 
its  cost  problems  can  be  made  ours  too,  but  we  can  also 
calculate  angles  and  distances  between  its  supporting 
beams.     More  advanced  classes  may  even  consider  the 


FIELD  WORK  IN   ALL  SUBJECTS  269 

strength  of  building  materials,  and  matters  of  stress  and 
strain  in  local  bridges  may  be  studied  in  class  from 
material  gathered  in  field  observations. 

The  time,  labor,  material  and  cost  of  paving  or  asphalt- 
ing a  street  or  making  an  excavation  for  a  public  building, 
give  projects  for  field  work  in  mathematics  that  may  last 
a  semester.  Such  work,  well  done,  surpasses  in  value 
similar  work  done  in  the  class  room  only. 

English  field  work  may  involve  a  study  of  the  local 
newspaper.  The  children  may  learn  how  news  is  gath- 
ered, how  it  is  written  up,  how  the  copy  is  prepared  for  the 
typesetter.  Later  they  may  see  the  news  actually  being 
set  up  by  hand,  or  on  a  linotype  machine.  Then  the 
galley  proof,  or  trial  sheets,  may  be  examined  for  cor- 
rections until  the  form  is  locked  and  the  paper  is  on  the 
press.  This  is  writing  that  parents  pay  to  read  —  not 
literature,  perhaps,  but  English  composition  beyond  a 
doubt. 

In  Written  English  a  visit  to  the  postoffice  to  observe 
the  collecting,  sorting,  packing,  or  unpacking,  of  letters 
and  distributing  them  will  give  an  added  interest  to  let- 
ter writing.  The  libraries  and  musuems  will  provide 
opportunities  to  observe  the  actual  letters  and  manu- 
scripts of  prominent  men  (with,  it  must  be  confessed,  no 
great  improvement  in  school  penmanship).  The  libraries 
will  also  furnish  collections  in  book  form  of  the  letters 
of  noted  writers  and  autobiographies  which  arc  in  effed 
open  letters  from  the  author's  own  hand.  Indeed  all  the 
excursions,  in  whatever  subject  taken,  will  furnish  ideas 
and  facts  for  the  pupils  to  write  about.  The  cooperative 
teacher  of  English  will  find  more  difficulty  in  limiting  the 
range  of  selection  than  in  providing  subjects  upon  which 
the  pupils  will  be  eager  to  write  letters  to  their  friends. 

Literature  may   be  studied  by  entire  classes   at  the 


270  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

library  where  all  the  works  of  the  author  under  dis- 
cussion may  be  seen,  the  books  actually  handled  and  their 
titles  read  and  copied  down.  Illustrations  not  found  in 
school  editions  may  be  looked  up  to  make  the  story  more 
real. 

In  English  Literature,  while  studying  Ivanhoe,  a  visit 
to  a  museum  may  make  real  the  suits  of  armor,  coats  of 
mail  and  tournament  lances,  while  the  tapestries  and 
needlework  of  the  women  of  that  period  may  also  be 
studied.  The  Lays  of  Ancient  Rome  may  find,  in  the 
musuem,  Roman  antiquities  to  give  an  added  interest. 
Cooper's  novels  may  be  supplemented  by  visits  to  various 
Indian  collections  and  to  the  collections  of  household 
goods  of  early  colonial  days  at  various  historic  homes 
that  may  be  open  to  the  public. 

By  special  arrangement  with  the  local  motion  picture 
house  still  more  can  be  accomplished.  Many  of  the  better 
known  English  classics  may  now  be  had  in  film  form. 
Picture  houses,  usually  closed  in  the  morning,  are  usually 
only  too  glad  to  open  for  school  children  for  even  a  five- 
cent  admission  if  the  groups  be  large  enough,  especially 
if  the  same  film  will  be  patronized  by  the  adults  of  the 
community  in  the  afternoon  and  evening.  The  morn- 
ing performance  is  usually  "velvet"  to  the  average  motion 
picture  house.  The  films  are  on  hand,  and  rental  is  paid 
for  the  day;  there  is  no  need  for  ushers  at  a  school  per- 
formance. The  operator  is  on  salary  and  may  be  put 
to  work.  So  the  school  performance  at  ten  in  the  morning 
is  clear  profit  and  the  admission  fee  can  drop  accordingly. 

For  example,  during  the  past  semester  some  classes  have 
seen  on  the  screen  in  school  time  —  Treasure  Island, 
Huckleberry  Finn,  Evangeline,  The  Copperhead,  The 
Vicar  of  Wakefield,  Dombey  and  Son,  The  Courtship  of 
Miles  Standish,  A  Yankee  in  King  Arthur's  Court,  and 
Webster's  Daddy  Long  Legs. 


FIELD   WORK   IN   ALL  SUBJECTS  271 

In  Oral  English  the  opportunities,  especially  before  the 
November  elections,  to  observe  public  speakers  at  work 
will  not  be  overlooked  and  pupils  will  attend,  so  far  as 
possible,  the  gatherings  where  men  of  national  repute 
address  the  public.  Sessions  of  the  local  legislative  body 
— the  Board  of  Aldermen  in  New  York  —  will  give  oppor- 
tunity to  see  parliamentary  practice  as  well  as  to  observe 
the  effect  of  spoken  argument  on  its  hearers. 

The  Social  Studies  may  take  the  pupils  afield  for  the 
study  of  local  landmarks  and  their  histories.  If  there 
is  no  local  historical  museum  there  usually  are  still  one 
or  more  homes  that  will,  if  visited  by  permission,  bring 
out  for  examination  antiques  or  memorabilia  of  real  his- 
toric value.  The  study  of  the  village  sites  is  a  study 
in  history  making.  What  once  stood  where  the  post-office 
stands?  What  building  was  on  that  site  before  the  post- 
office,  of  whose  town  lot  was  it  once  a  part?  On  whose 
farm  did  the  village  spring  up,  or  around  what  trade 
route  was  it  first  established?  What  geographical  ad- 
vantages led  the  first  immigrants  to  settle  here  rather 
than  at  some  neighboring  location?  Do  these  same  ad- 
vantages still  remain?  All  this  may,  of  course,  be  gotten 
from  books,  but  from  books  alone,  it  lacks  the  significance 
and  the  educative  value  that  comes  from  seeing  the  very 
spots  themselves  and  walking  over  the  historic  trails. 

The  local  law-makers,  or  courts,  may  meet  infre- 
quently, but  when  they  do,  there  is  no  better  place  to 
study  government  as  it  is  administered  than  in  such  meet- 
ings, open  as  they  must  be  to  the  public.  Children  who 
see  and  hear  a  local  ordinance  in  the  making  may  be 
led  to  a  better  idea  of  their  own  and  their  parents'  re- 
sponsibility at  election  time.  Children  who  witness  part 
of  a  carefully  selected  court  trial  have  a  greater  respecl 
for  law  and  for  those  who  are  charged  with  its  enforce- 


272  THE  JUNIOR   HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

ment.  All  the  local  agencies  for  local  protection,  the 
police  station,  the  fire-house,  the  lighting  plant,  may 
serve  as  objective  material  in  community  civics.  Even 
the  local  jail  may  teach  at  times  without  degrading. 

But  as  in  every  excursion  in  every  subject,  the  pupils' 
index  of  success  in  field  trips  in  Social  Studies  will  depend 
almost  wholly  upon  his  instructor's  clear  pre-vision  of  the 
situations  in  the  field;  his  teacher  must  each  time  have 
an  aim  that  is  definite,  worthy  and  possible  of  accom- 
plishment or  the  trip  is  useless. 

The  correlations  are  infinite.  The  General  Introduc- 
tory Social  Science  of  the  eighth  school  year,  consisting  of 
a  study  of  primitive  and  of  ancient  peoples,  their  mode 
of  life  and  of  government,  finds  contact  with  the  English 
literature  and  oral  English,  mathematics,  natural  science 
and  art  in  the  field  trips  that  may  be  planned. 

Taking  English  literature  as  an  example,  the  History 
of  ( Ireece  and  Rome  correlate  with  Homer's  Odyssey  and 
Macauley's  Lays  of  Ancient  Rome.  A  study  of  Indian 
tribes  and  customs  is  more  interesting  when  made  in  con- 
nection with  the  reading  in  English  literature  of  Coop- 
er's novels.  Scott's  Ivanhoe  and  The  Talisman  make 
more  real  the  European  history  of  the  middle  ages  with  its 
feudal  government  and  correlate  also  with  art  excursions 
to  study  Norman  Architecture,  or  mediaeval  armor. 

So  on  the  excursions  in  English  literature  to  the  motion 
picture  house,  or  to  the  library,  or  in  the  art  excursions 
to  the  musuem,  it  is  possible  to  emphasize  the  Social 
Science  side  by  calling  attention  to  the  historical  evo- 
lution of  the  social  or  the  material  setting  of  the  partic- 
ular story  that  is  being  studied. 

In  Community  Civics  —  a  part  of  our  Introductory 
Social  Science  —  the  connection  between  social  and  nat- 
ural science  is  most  marked.    The  way  people  manage 


FIELD   WORK   IN   ALL   SUBJECTS  273 

to  live  with  comfort  and  health  in  large  cities  is  found 
to  be  largely  a  matter  of  physical,  chemical  and  bio- 
logical science. 

The  water  supply,  garbage  and  sewerage  disposal, 
gas  making  and  distribution,  electric  light  and  power  ser- 
vice, supervision  of  foods  and  their  distribution,  street 
cleaning,  house-cleaning,  control  of  contagion,  etc.,  etc., 
are  all  matters  of  civics  in  so  far  as  the  people  of  a  com- 
munity must  make  legal  and  financial  provision  for  the 
initial  expenses  of  this  service  for  its  maintenance,  but 
this  service  depends  upon  natural  science  as  to  the  man- 
ner in  which  the  service  is  actually  accomplished.  There- 
fore excursions  in  natural  science  may  be  combined  with 
field  work  in  civics  with  good  results. 

In  Manual  Art  not  only  may  the  Art  Museum's  collec- 
tions of  paintings  and  statuary  be  observed  in  part,  but, 
equally,  beauty  of  design  in  needlework,  pottery  and  the 
rarer  metals  may  be  studied  and  explained.  Buildings, 
both  public  and  private,  may  be  studied  for  their  architec- 
ture and  not  only  may  the  conventional  Greek  types  be 
recognized,  but  equally  the  medieval  and  the  modern. 

Early  colonial  design  may  be  noted  in  period  furniture 
as  shown  in  the  collections,  either  public  or  private,  where 
the  pupils  may  learn  to  recognize  and,  in  part,  to  appre- 
ciate the  types  of  furniture  so  earnestly  sought  by  the 
collector  of  antiques. 

Commercial  design  must  not  be  overlooked,  but  the 
process  as  well  as  the  product  of  designs  for  printed  cloth, 
wall  paper,  and  figured  weaves  may  be  observed  and  ex- 
plained. Even  the  local  dry-goods  store  may  serve  for  an 
art  excursion. 

In  art  as  in  science  the  opportunities  presented  exceed 
the  possibility  of  exhausting  them,  though  in  art  the 
demands  upon  the  kind  indulgence  of  the  private  owner 


274  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

may  make  such  field  work  more  difficult  unless  a  class 
be  unusually  well  disposed.  On  the  contrary,  however, 
most  collectors  of  objects  of  art  are  only  too  willing  to 
exhibit  them  if  only  they  become  convinced  that  those  to 
whom  the  treasures  are  displayed  are  seriously  anxious 
to  develop  a  genuine  art  appreciation. 

In  Music,  where  expense  seems  to  forbid  field  work, 
the  nearest  approach  to  field  work  seems  to  be  through 
such  concerts  as  may  be  arranged  upon  the  phonograph. 
Records,  loaned  by  the  pupils,  parents  and  teachers,  make 
it  possible  to  reproduce  at  one  time  almost  an  entire 
opera  while  the  instructor  explains  the  story  which  the 
composer  tells.  I  have  seen  the  skillful  teacher  of  music 
hold  the  entire  attention  for  an  hour  or  more  of  over  a 
hundred  pupils  to  the  operas  of  Aida,  Faust,  II  Trovatore, 
Cavalleria  Rusticana,  Rigoletto,  La  Tosca,  Pagliacci  and 
Lucia  di  Lammermoor.  That  such  modified  field  work 
is  truly  effective  no  one  that  has  seen  it  can  possibly 
doubt. 

PART  II 
PRACTICAL   DETAILS   OF   FIELD   STUDY 

While  almost  any  student  of  education  who  is  not  a 
teacher  may  now  be  convinced  that  theoretically  field 
work  is  a  most  valuable  adjunct  to  class-room  work,  many 
class-room  teachers  may  still  be  inclined  to  believe  that 
the  practical  difficulties  such  a  plan  would  be  sure  to  en- 
counter might  easily  be  sufficient  to  make  it  impossible, 
whatever  be  its  theoretical  value. 

Certain  practical  objections,  especially  those  of  (1) 
Time  (distance),  (2)  Money,  (3)  Discipline  and  (4) 
Detractions,  may  seem  to  offer  insurmountable  barriers 
to  any  general  adoption  of  the  Field  "Work  Plan  in  the 
average  junior  high  school. 


PRACTICAL  DETAILS  OF  FIELD   STUDY        275 

To  those  who  feel  able  to  settle  these  problems  sat- 
isfactorily in  their  own  way  the  following  detailed  ac- 
count will  be  of  interest  only  as  the  story  of  how  one 
school  avoided  some  of  the  genuine  difficulties  it  first  met 
with. 

I.     Time 

In  the  first  place,  if  field  work  is  to  be  made  a  serious 
part  of  school  work,  we  have  shown  that  it  must  come  in 
school  hours.  It  is  unfair  to  ask  a  class  to  give  its  entire 
school-day  afternoon,  or  holiday  morning,  to  a  required 
and  compulsory  school  task.  The  time  allotted  each  sub- 
ject for  either  class-room  recitation  or  home  study  is 
fixed  and  definite.  The  teacher  who  arranges  a  field 
trip  in  after-school  time  that  really  belongs  in  whole  or 
in  part  to  the  home  study  of  other  subjects,  harms  the 
work  of  the  school  even  though  he  may  help  for  the  time 
his  own  subject. 

Several  plans  have  been  worked  out  by  which  pupils 
can  take  their  field  work  in  school  time  without  interfer- 
ing with  other  school  work.  Each  of  these  plans  places 
an  added  burden  upon  the  shoulders  of  the  program 
maker  and  yet  not  so  great  a  one  as  to  be  impossible  of 
satisfactory  adjustment  in  the  hands  of  an  expert. 

Let  us  suppose  that  the  subject  in  which  the  field 
work  is  to  be  undertaken  comes  regularly  five  times 
a  week.  It  may  be  desirable  to  have  a  field  excursion 
weekly  as  in  general  science,  bi-weekly  as  in  community 
civics,  or  monthly  as  in  mathematics. 

The  average  excursion,  if  it  is  to  be  worth  while,  can 
scarcely  take  less  than  two,  or  more  than  three,  periods 
of  school  time.  On  the  basis  of  a  forty-five  minute  period 
this  would  give  from  one  and  a  half  to  two  and  a  quarter 
hours  for  the  excursion  as  a  whole.    Taking  the  shorter 


276  THE  JUNIOR   HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

allowance  as  our  limit,  this  may  not  unfairly  be  supple- 
mented by  such  little  before  or  after  school  time  as  may 
be  necessary  to  reach,  or  to  return  from,  the  place  to  be 
visited. 

For  the  day  on  which  the  excursion  in  any  subject  is 
to  take  place  the  subject  in  question  is  assigned  in  ad- 
vance, the  two  opening  or  the  two  closing  periods  of 
school. 

The  pupils  preferably  leave  the  school  building  at  the 
close  of  the  first  afternoon  period  —  at  1 :  30  or  1 :45  p.  m., 
as  the  custom  may  be,  and  proceed  to  the  place  of  their 
field  work  —  half  an  hour's  walk,  or  ride.  From  half  to 
three  quarters  of  an  hour  may  be  spent  in  observation 
and  note  taking,  after  which  the  class  may  return  as  a 
whole  to  their  school  for  dismissal  or  may  be  dismissed 
at  once  when  the  object  of  their  observation  is  covered, 
to  return  home  as  individuals. 

With  older  classes  already  trained  in  the  mechanics  of 
field-work,  the  first  two  periods  of  the  day  may  be  used 
when  it  is  possible  for  the  pupils  to  go  from  home  directly 
to  the  place  of  meeting.  After  one  period  of  observation 
the  class  returns  as  a  body  to  the  school,  in  time  for  the 
opening  of  its  third  daily  period. 

II.    Money 

Of  course  where  the  object  of  the  field  trip  is  found 
within  reasonable  walking  distance  of  half  an  hour  or 
so  the  question  of  money  does  not  appear  as  a  difficulty 
to  be  overcome.  While  pupils  who  are  physically  handi- 
capped, or  who  live  at  a  great  distance  from  the  school, 
may  be  permitted  to  ride,  the  rule  that  if  one  walks  all 
walk  has  been  found  most  satisfactory. 

In  a  large  city,  however,  there  will  be  field  trips  that 


PRACTICAL   DETAILS   OF   FIELD   STUDY         277 

will  unavoidably  require  car  fare  if  the  trip  is  to  be 
finished  in  its  allotted  two  periods. 

The  time  may  come  when  the  cost  of  excursions  will 
be  covered  by  grants  of  school  money,  for  it  is  no  more 
unreasonable  to  spend  money  to  carry  pupils  to  the  things 
they  are  to  observe  than,  as  now,  to  spend  money  to 
bring  things  to  be  observed  into  our  class  room. 

In  the  annual  budget  of  most  high  schools  an  allowance 
is  made  for  the  purchase  of  illustrative  material,  pictures, 
charts,  globes,  reference  or  library  books,  laboratory 
material,  etc.,  part  of  which  might  properly  be  applied 
to  the  expenses  of  a  series  of  excursions  where  the  same, 
or  better,  results  would  be  secured  by  taking  the  class 
from  the  school  to  the  objects  to  be  observed. 

However,  in  an  experience  covering  several  years  no 
parent  has  been  found  who  was  unwilling  to  contribute  the 
necessary  car  fare  when  the  object  of  the  excursion  was  at 
a  distance,  although  it  was  necessary  to  take  definite 
steps  at  the  start  to  convert  the  parents  to  the  excur- 
sion idea.  To  that  end  a  circular  letter  was  printed, 
addressed  to  the  pupils'  parents  explaining  the  nature  and 
purpose  of  the  proposed  field  work.  It  was  made  plain 
that  these  excursons  were  not  picnics,  or  amusement 
periods,  but  had  a  definite  educative  purpose.  It  was 
further  explained  that  these  trips  would  not  be  taken  if, 
in  the  belief  of  the  school,  the  time  could  be  better  em- 
ployed-in  the  class  room.  It  was  carefully  explained  that 
the  trips  were  planned  solely  because,  through  the  excur- 
sions, the  pupils  would  receive  a  better  education  than 
could  possibly  be  provided  without  them. 

Finally,  a  printed  request,  addressed  to  the  school 
principal,  was  sent  to  each  parent  to  sign  and  return  if 
he  chose.  These  signed  requests — renewed  each  semester 
—  were  kept  on  file  as  a  safeguard. 


278  THE  JUNIOR   HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

These  requests  were  worded  approximately  as  follows: 

I  hereby  request  that  my  son  be  permitted  to  go 

in  his  school  time  on  the  regular  weekly  excursions  of  Speyer 
School  pupils. 

I  assume  all  responsibility  for  his  safety  and  agree  to  furnish 
him  with  necessary  car  fare,  not  to  exceed  ten  cents  a  week. 

(Signed)      Parent  or  Guardian 
The  result  thus  far  has  been  100%  of  requests. 

III.    Discipline 

No  difficulty  has  been  found  in  permitting  one  teacher 
to  supervise  as  many  as  thirty-six  pupils  on  a  field  trip, 
though  with  a  smaller  party  the  work  will,  of  course,  be 
better  supervised  and  probably  more  valuable  to  all  who 
attend. 

At  the  outset  there  will  usually  be  one  or  two  pupils 
in  each  class  who  will  at  first  fail  to  recognize  the  value 
of  the  excursion  and  so  tend  to  upset  the  decorum  and 
earnestness  of  the  class.  If  such  pupils  fail  to  respond 
immediately  to  correction,  it  may  be  necessary  to  send 
them  either  to  their  homes,  or  under  guard,  to  the  school 
building.  Until  such  pupils  awaken  to  their  opportuni- 
ties it  may  be  necessary  to  exclude  them  (their  parents 
being  notified)  from  further  field  trips  and  to  arrange 
instead  that  they  use  excursion  time  upon  assigned  work 
under  supervision  at  the  school. 

It  is  absolutely  necessary  that  the  group  be  well  dis- 
posed, quiet,  orderly  and  well  mannered  in  order  that  the 
school  may  retain  the  privilege  granted  by  the  insti- 
tution, performance,  or  business  concern  which  is  being 
visited.  With  insignificant  exceptions,  the  pupils  of 
Speyer  School  have  been  permitted  to  visit  collections, 


PRACTICAL  DETAILS  OF   FIELD  STUDY        279 

museums,  libraries,  city  departments,  parks,  theatres, 
stores,  markets,  factories,  buildings  and  plants  under 
construction,  wharves,  transportation  centers  and  many 
other  places  without  the  slightest  unfavorable  criticism 
from  those  who  at  first  somewhat  unwillingly  granted 
the  privileges  of  a  visit.  So  far  in  the  neighborhood  of 
thirty  thousand  pupil  visits  in  the  aggregate  have  been 
made  without  any  untoward  incident  having  occurred. 
Such  an  experience  will  give  faith  that  the  difficulties  of 
discipline  are  not  insuperable. 

For  the  actual  work  of  observation,  Speyer  pupils  are 
divided  into  smaller  groups  of  five  or  six  pupils,  one  in 
each  group  being  an  especially  trustworthy  leader  who 
is  directly  (under  the  teacher)  charged  with  seeing  that 
his  group  obeys  the  rules  and  secures  the  object  of  the  ex- 
cursion. Such  a  plan  gives  the  teacher  an  opportunity 
to  separate  possible  mischief  makers  and  to  deal  with 
six  or  seven  groups  instead  of  thirty  or  forty  individuals. 
Moreover,  the  objects  of  interest  are  often  such  as  to 
make  observation  by  more  than  one  small  group  at  a 
time  impossible.  In  such  cases,  the  process  of  ob- 
servation is  artificially  separated  into  six  or  seven  steps 
which  the  smaller  groups  observe  in  rotation,  each  group 
beginning  and  ending  with  a  previously  assigned  step, 
the  time  allowance  for  each  step  being  approximately 
the  same. 

IV.     Distractions 

Contrary  to  one's  first  thought,  an  abundance  of  ma- 
terial for  field  study  on  any  one  trip  is  far  more  a  hind- 
rance than  a  help. 

One  might  think,  for  instance,  that  in  New  York  City 
the  Museum  of  Natural  History  would  be  one  of  the  most 
wonderful  places  in  the  world  for  a  field  excursion  in 


280  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

Science.  The  collections  in  zoology,  in  botany,  in  paleon- 
tology, in  anthropology,  minerology,  if  not  the  finest  in 
the  world  and  the  best  displayed,  are  probably  rarely 
equalled  in  America.  Not  only  the  collections  themselves, 
but  their  pictorial  arrangement  and  display  enable  one  to 
visit  and  to  observe,  with  but  little  use  of  the  imagination, 
the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth. 

What  a  gold  mine  of  teaching  material,  one  will  be 
forced  to  exclaim!  Yet  with  all  this  wealth  of  mate- 
rial on  every  hand  a  satisfactory  teaching  excursion  to 
the  Museum  of  Natural  History  is  one  of  the  most  diffi- 
cult tasks  imaginable.  The  class  may  enter  the  Museum 
with  one  single  worthy  query,  but  in  an  instant  the  main 
purpose  of  the  excursion  may  be  lost  in  a  hundred  queries 
that  the  wealth  of  material  suggests  to  the  pupil's  mind. 
Unless  controlled  by  an  iron  hand,  the  pupils  who  come 
to  study,  for  example,  fur^bearing  animals,  are  full  of 
questions  about  the  meteorites,  the  Malay  boatmen,  the 
fossil  birds,  the  Indian  relics,  the  giant  whale,  the  re- 
splendent crystalline  ores,  the  wonderful  plumes  of  still 
more  wonderful  birds  and  a  host  of  other  questions  that 
are  suggested  by  what  children  cannot  help  seeing  as  they 
move  to  their  predetermined  place  of  study. 

It  is  an  almost  superhuman  task  for  the  teacher  in 
charge  of  thirty-six  pupils  to  prevent,  if  not  the  pupils' 
bodies,  at  least  their  minds,  from  running  riot  amid  such 
impelling  distractions.  The  only  solution  for  such  a 
situation  (and  distractions  are  met  with,  in  even  the  theo- 
retically most  barren  fields)  lies  in  supplying  each  pupil 
with  a  purpose  so  definite,  so  distinct,  so  serious  that  it 
can  withstand  all  the  temptations  to  distraction,  and  this 
same  preparation  is  required  for  every  single  worthy 
excursion,  even  for  the  excursion  planned  only  to  a  vacant 
lot. 


PRACTICAL   DETAILS   OF   FIELD   STUDY        281 

In  a  school-room  period  of  preparation  the  pupils  work 
out  for  themselves,  under  guidance — what  they  want  to 
observe  —  why  they  want  to  observe  it — and  where  they 
may  best  go  to  get  the  results  (information)  they  seek. 
This  is  done  as  an  absolutely  necessary  prerequsite  to  any 
field  trip.  An  added  part  of  each  pupil's  preparation  is 
a  definite  list  of  worthy  questions  worked  out  together 
in  the  preparatory  period.  These  questions  may  be  com- 
mon to  all  the  class,  or  they  may  represent  certain  phases 
of  the  field  to  be  covered  by  certain  groups  and  later  to  be 
shared  by  all. 

Before  the  trip  is  ever  actually  begun  each  pupil  has 
then  a  clear  idea  of  what  he  is  going  to  try  to  get.  He 
has  definite  written  questions  asking  for  information 
which  his  excursion  may  supply  only  if  he  is  truly  diligent. 
In  so  far  as  may  be  necessary,  added  instruction  may  be 
given  in  advance  as  to  the  best  ways  to  get  the  informa- 
tion the  pupils'  questions  call  for. 

Experience  has  shown  that,  other  things  being  equal, 
the  narrower  and  deeper  the  range  of  observations  re- 
quired, the  better  the  results  that  will  be  secured  in  any 
subject.  When  therefore  in  order  to  keep  pupils  from 
getting  in  each  other's  way,  it  becomes  necessary  for  the 
class  to  work  in  small  groups  the  better  plan  seems  to 
be  to  select  for  each  smaller  "committee"  a  set  of  ques- 
tions whose  answers  may  apparently  have  significance 
only  when  combined  with  the  reports  of  other  "commit- 
tees" when  all  meet,  subsequent  to  the  excursion,  in  a 
committee  of  the  whole.  Thus  a  social  pressure  is  placed 
upon  each  pupil  in  addition  to  the  motives  that  may  urge 
the  individual  to  stick  to  the  task  assigned  despite  dis- 
tractions. Following  the  excursion,  the  material  gathered 
in  the  field  is  called  for  in  the  class  room  and  there  related 
and  discussed  until  all  have  made  their  contributions  and 


282  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

received  the  benefits  of  the  combined  findings  of  the 
class.  Not  merely  interest  in  planning  and  assiduity  in 
gathering,  but  rather  the  intelligence  displayed  in  appre- 
ciating the  significance  of  the  facts  or  processes  observed, 
is  the  final  test  of  a  successful  field  excursion. 

Enough  has  been  said  possibly  to  show  that  time, 
money  and  behavior  are,  after  all,  minor  considerations 
as  compared  with  the  tremendous  difficulties  of  distrac- 
tion as  a  barrier  to  satisfactory  field  work.  However, 
with  a  carefully  thought  out  advance  plan  expressed  in 
definite  written  questions  and,  second,  with  a  high  degree 
of  accountability  required  from  each  pupil  in  the  class- 
room work  that  follows  the  field  trip,  experiment  and  ex- 
perience have  shown  that  even  the  difficulties  of  distrac- 
tion may  be,  in  most  instances,  successfully  overcome. 

It  may  be  that  with  better  appreciation  of  the  causes 
of  failure,  we  may  learn  more  and  more  to  anticipate 
and  so  to  avoid  the  difficulties  that  seem  so  often  to 
prohibit  successful  field  study  in  many  subjects. 

From  those  who  intelligently  persevere  in  this  work, 
there  is  bound  to  come  sooner  or  later  a  contribution  to 
education  that  may  change  the  whole  nature  of  our 
class  room  instruction  a  generation  hence.  A  more  imme- 
diate reward  is  that  wholly  worthy  sense  of  congratula- 
tion that  comes  to  the  consecrated  teacher  whose  greatest 
joy  is  found  in  the  added  pleasure  and  progress  he  brings 
to  the  boys  and  girls  entrusted  to  his  care. 


QUESTIONS 

1.  How  can  field  work  in  junior  high  school  subjects  be  made 

to  help  in  the  housing  situation? 

2.  What  are  some  of  the  reasons  that  have  led  to  the  separa- 

tion of  school  work  and  real  work? 

3.  What  ill  results  have  attended  this  separation? 


PRACTICAL   DETAILS   OF   FIELD   STUDY        283 

4.  What  was  one  merit  of  the  Gary  Plan  and  what  improve- 

ment on  this  idea  can  you  suggest? 

5.  How  may  field  work  make  school  work  more  real? 

6.  Why  should  not  field  work  supplant  all  laboratory  work? 

7.  What  opportunities  does  my  own  school  neighborhood  offer 

for  field  trips  in  General  Science,  English,  Mathematics, 
Social  Science,  Art? 

8.  What  are  the  four  chief  difficulties  in  all  field  work? 

9.  What  is  the  one  greatest  difficulty  and  how  may  it  be  met? 
10.  How  would  I  outline  a  preparatory  period  for  one  ex- 
cursion in  my  specialty? 


CHAPTER  XVII 

WRITTEN   EXAMINATIONS  AND   RECOGNITION 
TESTS 

Ever  since  there  have  been  modern  schools  for  chil- 
dren of  adolescent  age  there  seem  to  have  been  written 
examinations  which  to  a  greater  or  lesser  degree  were 
used  to  predetermine  each  pupil's  fitness  to  advance 
to  a  study  of  new  and  more  difficult  subjects.  More 
especially  in  recent  years  there  have  also  been  students 
of  education,  parents  and  physicians  who  decried  the  use 
of  the  long  written  examination  in  school  work.  We  have 
been  told  of  cases  of  ill  health,  insomnia,  nervous 
breakdown  and  even  suicide,  caused  by  the  strain  of 
preparing  for  final  examinations  which  were  intended 
to  determine  largely,  if  not  wholly,  a  pupil's  fitness  for 
promotion. 

Students  of  the  History  of  Education  in  other  lands 
tell  us  of  the  civil  service  system  in  use  for  centuries  in 
China  where  promotion  in  social  rank  and  in  opportuni- 
ties for  higher  types  of  civic  service  is  made  to  depend 
upon  the  candidate's  success  in  passing  a  series  of  three 
or  four  examinations  set  by  the  state.  These  examina- 
tions, we  are  told,  are  held  usually  once  in  three  years 
—  and  last  for  three  days  at  a  stretch  —  deaths  from 
physical  and  nervous  exhaustion  not  being  an  infrequent 
accompaniment  of  these  long  written  tests. 

Furthermore,  opponents  of  written  examinations  tell 
us  that  there  are  many  pupils  who  never  can  do  them- 

284 


EXAMINATIONS   AND   RECOGNITION   TESTS     285 

selves  justice  in  any  written  tests.  Over-exeitablc  and 
high-strung  pupils  are  unsettled  by  nervous  apprehension 
of  possible  failure  and  its  accompanying  disgrace  be- 
fore their  fellows.  It  is  claimed  that  often  the  more  , 
able,  intelligent  and  better  informed  pupils  are  ranked 
by  the  results  of  a  long  written  examination  as  inferior 
to  actually  less  able  pupils  whose  very  indifference  to 
examination  results  puts  them  in  a  frame  of  mind  more 
likely  to  secure  favorable  ratings  in  such  trials  of  en- 
durance as  well  as  of  knowledge. 

Finally,  there  are  those  who  maintain  that  our  Ameri- 
can school  written  examinations,  based  as  they  are  so  fre- 
quently, if  not  universally,  upon  the  pupil's  ability  to  re- 
member facts,  give  an  entirely  wrong  emphasis  to  the1 
training  of  pupils  in  school.  These  critics  maintain  that 
the  real  test  of  any  pupil's  fitness  to  advance  should  be 
based  upon  a  pupil's  demonstrated  ability  to  interpret  and 
use  facts  rather  than  simply  to  remember  them.  Ques- 
tions to  test  interpretation,  intellectual  power,  dynamic, 
rather  than  static,  knowledge,  are  so  much  harder  to 
correct  that  few  of  our  school  examinations  are  thus 
framed,  but  instead  practically  all  our  examination  ques- 
tions test  memory  alone.  As  a  result,  it  is  claimed,  the 
schools  are  led  to  place  emphasis  upon  memory-know  1- 
edge  rather  than  upon  power-knowledge  with  a  resulting 
deterioration  in  the  educative  process. 

So  far  we  have  regarded  the  examination  evil  only  as 
ii  affects  the  pupil,  but  the  teacher,  far  from  being  the 
lightest  sufferer,  is  usually  the  hardest  hit.  No  teacher 
gives  examinations  and  corrects  the  papers  for  the  fun 
of  it,  notwithstanding  the  pupils'  belief.  For  most 
teachers  the  correction  of  long  written  examination  pa- 
pers is  about  the  hardest  and  the  meanest  work  of  the 
whole  school  year,  especially  since  in  most  school  sys- 


28G  THE  JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL  IDEA 

terns  this  work  must  be  done  at  home  in  the  time  theo- 
retically allowed  for  rest  and  relaxation.  There  is  no 
"double  time"  nor  even  "time  and  a  half"  for  the  teacher's 
overtime  labors  in  the  correction  of  examination  papers. 

It  will  rarely  take  the  most  expert  teacher  less  than 
five  minutes  to  correct  and  grade  a  pupil's  two  or  three 
hour  examination.  Given  the  smallest  customary  load 
of  five  classes  of  thirty  pupils,  we  have  not  less  than 
150  papers  for  one  teacher's  correction,  or  from  15  to 
25  hours  at  hard  labor  as  the  sentence  of  the  conscientious 
teacher  at  promotion  time.  Principals  and  superinten- 
dents who,  forgetful  of  their  own  earlier  trials,  set 
examinations  of  the  old  style  for  high  school  promo- 
tions impose  a  burden  that  may  sap  the  teachers'  vi- 
tality which  might  far  better  have  been  left  them  for 
their  real  work  of  instruction. 

The  proponents  of  written  examinations,  while  ad- 
mitting many  of  their  opponents'  contentions,  base 
their  chief  reliance  upon  the  inevitableness  of  the  writ- 
ten test  if  any  standards  of  education  are  to  be  main- 
tained. Had  each  teacher,  they  say,  but  three  or  four 
pupils,  or  even  in  some  cases  as  many  as  ten  pupils,  it 
might  be  possible  for  one  teacher  to  be  so  intimately 
acquainted  with  each  pupil's  individual  attainments  that 
no  written  tests  would  be  necessary.  However,  where 
thirty  or  forty  pupils  are  gathered  in  one  room  under 
one  instructor,  it  becomes  humanly  impossible  for  any 
adult  individual  below  the  rank  of  genius  to  know  surely 
the  positive  intellectual  achievements  of  each  pupil  in 
the  group.  So  the  written  test  is  introduced  that  all  the 
pupils  may  attempt  to  answer  at  the  same  time  certain 
basic  questions  as  a  measure  of  their  school  success. 

Even  were  there  no  further  argument  from  the  pro- 
ponents of  written   examinations  we  will   find  it  well 


EXAMINATIONS   AND   RECOGNITION   TESTS      287 

nigh  impossible  to  escape  the  conviction  that  where  pu- 
pils are  gathered  in  classes  for  class  instruction  upon 
common  subject-matter,  some  form  of  uniform  written 
examinations  are  truly  inevitable,  if  any  standards  of 
fitness  for  promotion  are  to  be  maintained. 

The  proponents  of  written  tests,  however,  go  further 
and  maintain  that  these  written  examinations  are  of 
value  not  only  to  the  teacher  in  showing  him  what  each 
pupil  knows  about  the  particular  topic  under  examina- 
tion, but  are  no  less  valuable  to  each  pupil  in  showing  him 
what  he  knows  (and,  equally,  what  he  does  not  know) 
about  this  particular  topic.  Teachers  tell  us  that  nothing 
short  of  a  test  where  the  answers  are  put  down  in  writ- 
ing, subject  to  analysis  and  review,  will  be  accepted  by 
some  pupils  as  evidence  of  imperfection  of  their  own 
knowledge.  Many  a  pupil  wholly  content  in  his  owrn  esti- 
mation of  his  perfect  subject-knowledge,  is  first  awakened 
to  his  real  imperfections  by  re-reading  his  owrn  examina- 
tion paper.  We  are  all  familiar,  too,  with  the  boy  who 
"knows  the  answer,  but  cannot  express  it"  and  we  nil  have 
labored  to  show  this  boy  that  until  he  can  express  himself 
correctly  he  has  absolutely  no  real  knowledge  of  the  sub- 
ject under  discussion. 

Further  benefits  claimed  for  examinations,  especially 
those  for  promotion,  arc  that  these  longer  written  tests 
require  a  pupil  to  make  a  rapid  review,  summing  up  as 
a  preparation  for  the  examination,  the  high  spots  of  his 
term's  work  and  that  only  by  such  a  crucial  test  can  the 
pupil  be  led  to  appreciate  relative  values  in  the  work  he 
has  just  completed.  We  all  know  the  type  of  man  who, 
we  say,  is  unable  to  see  the  forest  because  he  sees  only  t  he 
individual  trees.  In  our  schools,  if  is  claimed  that  in- 
struction without  the  final  written  tests  makes  for  just  this 
type  of  mind,  as  in  the  boy  who  can  get  each  fact  from 


288  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

day  to  day,  but  who  cannot  appreciate  the  subject  be- 
cause his  facts  lack  interrelation  as  parts  of  a  unified 
whole. 

Our  final  conclusion  as  to  the  value  and  the  necessity 
of  written  examinations  is  apt  to  lead  us  to  decide  that 
for  the  average  boy  in  the  average  class  of  junior  high 
school  grade,  examinations,  properly  conducted,  are  of 
greater  value  than  harm  and  that,  despite  occasional  in- 
dividual injstice,  on  the  whole  the  examinations  are  the 
only  way  of  fairly  estimating  the  individual's  proficiency 
when  he  is  one  of  a  group  of  thirty  or  forty  others. 

So  far  we  have  been  discussing  examinations  as  if  they 
wrere  all  pretty  much  alike  as,  on  the  whole,  we  know 
them  to  be,  or  to  have  been.  Still,  a  moment's  reflection 
will  bring  to  our  minds  examinations  that  are  widely 
different  in  character  and  purpose.  Is  it  not  possible  that 
the  examination  may  be  correct  in  theory,  but  harmful 
in  practice?  Is  it  not  possible  that  the  faults  are  not 
inherent  in  an  examination  system,  but  in  the  specific 
examinations  that  are  actually  given  to  our  pupils? 

In  the  junior  high  school  we  find  the  earliest  school 
examinations  that  are  considered  truly  significant.  No 
one  thinks  of  thus  examining  a  group  of  little  children 
in  the  second  or  third  school  year,  but  from  the  junior 
high  school  through  the  senior  high  school,  college 
and  professional  school,  the  "set"  examination  grows 
and  thrives,  increasing  in  importance  and  in  terror  until 
the  law  and  medical  schools  cap  the  climax  in  the  value 
attributed  to  long  and  difficult  written  tests. 

"With  the  seventh  school  year,  the  pupil  is  introduced 
into  a  series  of  written  tests  that  will  continue  so  long 
as  the  boy  remains  a  student  —  or,  possibly  for  three 
years  of  the  junior  high  school,  three  years  in  senior  high 
school,  four  in  college  and  three  or  four  in  professional 


EXAMINATIONS   AND   RECOGNITION   TESTS      289 

school.  For  the  boy  who  "cannot  do  well  in  examina- 
tions" the  outlook  is  very  dreadful  —  for  more  than  a 
dozen  years  ahead  examinations  challenge  his  progress  at 
every  step. 

Since  the  junior  high  school  has  for  its  aim  the  pre- 
paring of  its  pupils  to  do  better  those  desirable  things 
they  will  do  anyway,  we  must  seriousfy  consider  the 
apparently  inevitable  examination  system  that  a  large 
fraction  of  our  pupils  may  elect  to  pursue.  Even  though 
we  may  totally  disbelieve  in  this  examination  system, 
we  must  not  do  anything  that  will  weaken  our  pupil's 
chances  of  promotion  along  the  path  that  convention  has 
established.  It  is  not  a  theory,  but  a  condition  that  con- 
fronts us.  Our  pupils  must  be  trained  to  pass  examina- 
tions unless  they  all  are  to  finish  their  formal  education 
with  our  junior  high  school. 

As  pioneers  in  education,  bound  less  by  convention 
than  is  any  other  type  of  school,  it  may  be  possible  for 
us  to  devise  ways  and  means  of  approaching  the  ex- 
amination system  that  will  lessen  its  terrors,  soften  its 
hardships  and  increase  its  values  to  both  pupil  and 
teacher.  If  this  is  to  be  true,  the  new  tests  of  general 
intelligence,  the  modified  "army  tests"  which  our  fore- 
most American  psychologists  have  devised,  will  point  the 
way. 

Furthermore,  if  speed  grouping,  as  previously  dis- 
cussed,-is  to  be  a  feature  of  our  junior  high  school  work, 
and  few  will  debate  its  advisability,  then  we  need  to 
provide  for  frequent  opportunities  for  re-grading  of  our 
pupils  within  each  group.  Instead  of  semi-annual,  or 
even  quarterly,  te^ts.  we  may  decide  that  we  should 
have  quarterly  tests  in  each  semester. 

In  a  school  year  of  forty  weeks  divided  into  two  terms, 
or  semesters,  of  twenty  weeks  each,  experiments  seem 


290  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

to  show  that  the  longest  period  that  should  elapse  between 
the  promotions  of  homogeneously  graded  junior  high 
school  pupils  is  not  far  from  five  weeks.  In  the  twenty 
weeks  term  this  gives  four  stated  periods,  five  weeks 
apart,  when  a  taking  of  mental  stock  is  required.  More 
frequent  review  periods  seem  to  interrupt  the  orderly 
forward  progress  of  the  school ;  less  frequent  review  peri- 
ods magnify  disproportionately  the  labors  of  each  review. 

Under  the  newer  plan  of  more  frequent  promotions, 
we  must  make  our  tests  short,  because  our  pupils  are  yet 
but  beginners.  Even  though  (in  New  York  State)  our 
third  year  pupils  must  prepare  for  a  three-hour  exami- 
nation covering  a  year's  work  in  the  first  year  high  school 
subjects,  we  need  not  ourselves  begin  our  written  reviews 
with  such  cruelty  to  children.  And  again,  because  we 
are  not  at  first  compelled  to  meet  these  challenges  of 
fitness  to  proceed,  we  need  not  wait  until  the  school  year 
is  finished  to  set  our  review  tests. 

For  the  first  junior  high  school  year  we  would  pro- 
pose a  time  schedule  of  promotion  from  one  homoge- 
neous speed  group  to  another  that  would  place  these 
tests  approximately  five  weeks  apart— giving  eight  such 
review  periods  for  the  seventh  school  year.  For  this  first 
junior  high  school  year  we  would  even  propose  no  mid- 
term, or  end-term,  reviews  that  would  cover  more  than 
five  weeks'  work.  To  a  certain  extent,  of  course,  each 
test  covers  much  of  the  work  that  has  preceded,  though 
studied  more  than  five  weeks  before,  but  only,  however, 
to  the  extent  that  such  preceding  work  is  a  real  factor 
in  present  progress.  In  other  words,  we  would  test  fit- 
ness to  advance,  rather  than  ability  to  recall  what  one 
once  knew,  but  which  is  not  pertinent  to  the  work  at 
hand. 

For  the  second  junior  high  school  year  we  may  con- 


EXAMINATIONS   AND   RECOGNITION   TESTS      291 

tinue  our  five-week  reviews,  but  at  the  middle  and  end 
of  each  semester  we  shall  plan  review  tests  that  cover 
ten  at  first  and  later  twenty  weeks'  work,  thus  increasing 
the  review  requirements  in  preparation  for  the  more 
difficult  examinations  that  lie  still  farther  ahead.  For 
the  third  junior  high  school  year  (the  ninth  school  year) 
we  must  accept  the  compulsions  of  convention  and  pre- 
pare our  pupils  for  tests  that  cover  a  year's  work.  This 
we  can  best  do  by  a  series  of  tests  at  mid-terms  and  at 
mid-year  that  cover  to  such  extent  as  may  be  necessary 
all  the  subject-work  that  has  preceded.* 

*  If  we  have  been  able  to  follow  this  apparently  complicated, 
but  yet  inherently  simple,  examination  time  table,  we  may  have 
constructed  a  mental  picture  not  very  different  from  that  shown 
by  the  following  table: 


Order            Period 

7th 

Year 

8th 

Year 

9th 

Year 

I  Test    5th  week 

5 

wk.  review 

test 

5 

wk. 

rev. 

test 

5 

wk. 

rev.  test 

II     "       10th     " 

5 

" 

" 

" 

10 

" 

" 

" 

10 

" 

" 

III    "      15th     " 

5 

" 

" 

" 

5 

" 

" 

" 

5 

" 

"      " 

IV     "      20th     " 

5 

" 

" 

" 

10 

" 

" 

20 

V     "  20-25th  " 

5 

» 

- 

" 

5 

" 

" 

" 

5 

" 

„      .. 

VI    "  25-30th  " 

10 

" 

" 

" 

10 

" 

" 

" 

30 

" 

"      " 

VII    "  30-35th  " 

5 

" 

" 

" 

5 

" 

" 

" 

5 

" 

"      " 

VIII    "  35-40th  " 

10 

20 

" 

40 

" 

For  schools  that  have  classes  capable  of  covering  the  three 
years'  work  in  two  years  of  school  time,  we  may  have  a  time 
schedule  somewhat  like  the  following: 


Order 

Weeks 

7th  School  Year 

8th  School  Year 

I 

5 

5 

weeks 

review  test 

5  wks. 

review  test 

II 

10 

5 

" 

"         " 

10     " 

•i         •• 

III 

15 

5 

" 

ii         i< 

5     " 

ii         ii 

IV 

20 

10 

" 

" 

20     " 

V 

25 

5 

" 

.. 

5     " 

.. 

VI 

30 

10 

" 

ii         ii 

30     " 

•  I          ii 

VII 

35 

5 

" 

"         " 

5     " 

ii         <i 

VIII 

40 

20 

" 

<*         it 

40     " 

" 

292  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

At  once  there  will  be  aroused  an  intense  opposition 
to  such  a  frequent  promotion  period  as  one  coming  every 
live  weeks.  Any  one  ever  connected  with  school  work 
can  recall  the  upsetting  of  daily  programs,  the  general 
breakdown  of  school  morale  that  often  has  accompanied 
the  examination  week  or  the  promotion  week  of  past 
experience.  To  repeat  this  general  upset  every  five 
weeks  would  make  consecutive  constructive  work  im- 
possible, it  will  be  justly  claimed.  No  arguments  for 
review  examinations  could  justify  such  constant  inter- 
ruptions of  our  school  work  in  order  to  take  stock  of 
our  school  progress.  Indeed,  under  the  old  system, 
repeated  every  five  weeks,  we  should  be  so  exhausted 
in  measuring  our  progress  that  we  should  have  no  energy 
left  with  which  to  progress. 

If  we  are  able  to  promote  every  five  weeks  we  must 
devise  an  examination  system  so  wholly  different  from 
the  customary  one  that  not  a  single  one  of  the  many 
obvious  evils  of  the  old  plan  will  be  present. 

In  the  hope  of  finding  a  way  of  examining  our  pupils 
that  will  lessen  the  mental  fatigue  of  both  pupil  and 
teacher,  we  have,  as  we  have  hinted,  the  possibility  of 
some  approximation  of  the  widely  used  tests  of  general 
intelligence. 

Psychologists  tell  us  that  in  bringing  from  our  store- 
house of  memory  the  things  we  once  have  known,  but 
have  put  aside  for  the  moment  from  our  minds,  we  have 
at  least  two  common  methods  —  recollection  and  rec- 
ognition. 

If  I  have  an  important  engagement  I  may  recollect,  or 
more  tersely  expressed,  recall  that  fact  as  the  time  ap- 
proaches, though  the  engagement  had  not  been  con- 
sciously in  my  mind  for  weeks.  On  the  other  hand,  if 
I  pursue  ordinary  business  methods,  I  will  have  noted 


EXAMINATIONS   AND   RECOGNITION   TESTS      293 

the  date  on  my  desk  calendar,  or  pocket  reminder,  and  as 
I  glance  over  the  calendar  for  the  week  recognize  that 
I  have  the  engagement  on  a  certain  date.  In  the  one 
instance,  I  recalled  the  date  without  material  help;  in 
the  other,  I  recognized  the  appointment  when  I  referred 
to  my  written  memorandum. 

In  the  same  way  we  may  sometimes  meet  a  friend  of 
earlier  years;  we  recognize  him  at  once,  but  cannot  recall 
his  name.  However,  were  we  given  that  name  mixed  among 
a  dozen  others,  we  would  almost  surely  recognize  the 
name  when  we  reached  it  on  the  list.  Again,  most  of 
us  knew  at  one  time  the  date  of  the  granting  of  the 
Magna  Charta ;  we  may  not  recall  that  date  at  once,  but 
if  we  ever  really  knew  it,  we  will  be  pretty  sure  to  recog- 
nize it  when  we  know  it  is  one  of  the  following:  1776, 
1310.  1215,  1492,  1607.  Similarly,  we  may  recognize 
the  author  of  Twice  Told  Tales  if  we  know  that  he  is  one 
of  the  following:  Whittier,  Longfellow,  Bryant,  Haw- 
thorne, Kipling. 

By  and  large,  the  kind  of  memory  that  we  need  most 
because  we  use  it  most  is  recognition  and  not  recall. 
Granted  that  recognition  is  a  lower  type  of  memory  than 
recall,  it  is  still  a  most  valuable  and  necessary  part  of 
our  equipment  in  the  use  we  make  of  it  after  we  have 
left  school. 

Furthermore,  recognition,  while  it  is  not  all  of  memory, 
is  still  a  most  important  part  of  it.  We  cannot  recog- 
nize that  which  we  have  never  known.  We  do  not  "give 
away  the  answer"  when  we  ask  a  man  to  select  the  cor- 
rect answer  among  several  that  we  may  suggest.  We  do 
make  it  easier  for  a  man  to  answer  us  by  such  a  method, 
but  he  must  still  make  the  correct  selection  by  recog- 
nizing it  of  and  by  himself.  Though  constani  recog- 
nition of  once  learned  facts  is  most  necessary  for  our 


294  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

daily  tasks,  whatever  they  may  be,  yet  our  exami- 
nations in  school  and  college  have  been  largely,  if  not 
wholly,  matters  of  recall,  making  these  examinations 
difficult  beyond  all  ordinary  necessity  and  wholly  out  of 
line  with  the  newer  psychological  tests. 

We  may  then  attempt  to  build  up  "recognition  tests" 
based  upon  the  selection  of  the  right  answer  from  four 
or  five  answers  that  are  suggested.  This  is  one  of  the 
possible  types  of  tests  awaiting  experimentation. 

A  second  type  of  examination  may  be  to  ask  each  pupil 
to  judge  and  indicate  by  a  mark  the  truth  or  falsity  of 
each  of  several  statements  that  we  lay  before  them.  This 
we  might  call  a  "true  or  false"  type  examination. 

In  our  written  tests  we  have  always  been  limited  in  the 
number  and  range  of  our  questions  by  the  pupil's  ability 
to  set  down  the  answers  within  the  time  limit,  to  say 
nothing  of  our  own  endurance  limit  in  the  fatigue  brought 
on  by  the  correction  of  the  answers  the  pupil  hands  in. 

If.  however,  the  pupil's  knowledge  is  to  be  shown  by  a 
simple  check  mark  the  time  limit  both  for  the  pupil  who 
writes  and  for  the  teacher  who  corrects  is  at  once  taken 
from  the  list  of  examination  difficulties.  Instead  of  ask- 
ing ten  questions  we  may  ask —  and  should  ask  —  no  less 
than  fifty.  So  far  as  our  subject  is  concerned  we  now 
will  have  almost  wholly  avoided  the  source  of  error  that 
comes  from  a  limited  range  of  questions.  Under  the  old 
plan,  we  are  obliged  to  make  a  limited  selection  of  ques- 
tions and  so,  often  to  rate  the  pupil's  entire  work  on  the 
basis  of  the  small  sample  he  submits  in  his  written  an- 
swers. This  is  manifestly  unfair,  but  it  has  hitherto  been 
regarded  as  unavoidable.  Under  the  newer  plan,  while 
we  may  not  cover  every  last  point  worthy  of  recognition, 
we  at  least  have  increased  the  dependability  of  our  ex- 
amination results  by  just  that  amount  that  we  have 


EXAMINATIONS   AND   RECOGNITION   TESTS      295 

increased  the  amount  of  information  covered  by  our  nea- 
test as  compared  with  our  older  one. 

As  examples  of  the  "true  or  false"  type  of  examination 
questions,  we  may  have  some  like  the  following,  selected 
wholly  at  random  from  one  of  eighty  questions  in  each  of 
several  subject  examinations: 

(a)  An  acute  angle  is  greater  than  a  right  angle. 

(b)  A  base  ball  team  playing  36  games  lost  25%  of  them, 
winning  25  games. 

(c)  (a  +  l)2  =  a2  +  2a-}-l. 

(d)  Heather  Ale  is  a  flower. 

(e)  In  Herve  Riel  the  English  beat  the  French. 

(f)  A  period  is  always  used  after  an  abbreviation. 

(g)  The  future  active  emphatic  indicative  of  "try"  is  "I  will 
be  tried." 

(h)  Alexander  the  Great  was  a  Roman. 

(i)  Charlemagne  lived  about  1492. 

(j)  It  is  good  French  to  say  "Parlez  douxment." 

(k)  It  is  good  French  to  say  "Son  amiable  soer." 

(1)  It  was  Clovis  who  made  Paris  the  capital  of  France. 

(m)  The  Journal  is  the  book  of  original  entry. 

(n)  The  first  true  leaves  of  a  germinating  seed  are  called 

the  plumule, 
(o)  Cassius  led  Brutus  to  believe  that  the  entire  fortune  of 

the  conspiracy  depended  upon  Brutus'  taking  part, 
(p)  Portia  and  Calpurnia  were  well  fitted  to  be  the  wives  of 

great  men. 
(q)  King  Arthur  kept  Gareth's  secret, 
(r)  Madame  Curie  discovered  the  X-Rays. 
(s)  Criticism    (of   a   classmate's    composition)    is   designed 

chiefly  to  point  out  errors, 
(t)  Sohrab  received  a  warning  before  the  fight, 
(u)  Few  tropical  areas  are   controlled   by   nations  in   the 

temperate  zones. 

"What,"  some  one  will  at  once  object,  "shall  we  give 
in  our  tests,  questions  that  are  examples  of  the  poorest 
type  known  in  teaching,  the  '  Yes  '  and  '  No  '  questions? 


296  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL  IDEA 

Shall  we  make  the  examinations  a  matter  of  chance  so 
that  any  pupil  may  hope  for  a  fifty  per  cent  rating  on  the 
basis  of  the  law  of  probability,  as  one  might  flip  a  coin  fifty 
times?"  Yes,  we  answer,  just  that,  horrible  as  it  may 
seem  —  and  the  more  horrible  still  because  wherever 
tried  this  newer  type  of  examination  has  come  to  stay, 
because  all  who  have  used  it  are  convinced  of  its  un- 
questioned usefulness  and  undeniable  value. 

However,  to  soften  the  shock,  we  may  explain  that  to 
lessen  the  influence  of  chance  we  can  do  three  things. 

First,  we  can  ask  so  many  questions  (never  less  than 
fifty;  over  eighty  being  highly  desirable)  that  the  influ- 
ence of  any  one  single  chance  answer  upon  the  final  result 
will  be  correspondingly  small. 

Second,  we  can  arrange  our  questions  or  statements  so 
that  exactly  fifty  percent  of  them  can  only  be  answered 
correctly  by  "yes"  and  fifty  per  cent  by  "no." 

Third,  we  can,  in  determining  each  pupil's  final  score, 
subtract  those  that  are  wrong  from  those  that  are  right, 
giving  the  pupil  a  "net  score"  of  right  answers  over  wrong 
answers  that   largely,   if  not   wholly,   obviates   chance. 

For  example,  if  a  pupil,  following  the  law  of  chance, 
and  without  other  influence  whatever,  answered  twenty- 
five  questions  correctly  and  twenty-five  questions  incor- 
rectly, on  a  fifty-question  test  his  net  score  would  be 
exactly  zero,  which  would  be  the  rating  he  deserved. 

On  the  contrary,  if  a  pupil  blindly  marked  every 
question  "no,"  thereby  expecting  to  get  at  least  fifty 
per  cent  on  his  test,  he  could  be  arbitrarily  rated  zero 
because  at  the  start  he  was  told  that  approximately 
half  the  questions  were  correctly  answered  by  "yes"  and 
half  by  "no."  In  any  event,  this  pupil's  net  score  would 
be  zero  if  our  subtraction  plan  were  followed. 

Finally,  some  clever  mathematician  will  discover  that 


EXAMINATIONS   AND   RECOGNITION   TESTS     297 

theoretically  a  pupil  who  answered  more  questions  wrong 
than  right  would  receive  a  minus  rating.  As  an  example, 
if  a  pupil  answered  forty  questions  wrong  and  only  ten 
correctly,  his  net  score  would  be  minus  thirty.  Yet  this 
need  not  discourage  us  unduly,  for  even  though  this  never 
has  been  known  to  happen,  the  pupil  with  a  minus 
score  would  simply  receive  a  lower  relative  rating  than 
the  pupil  who  scored  zero. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  in  any  actual  test  the  number  of 
"rights"  always  exceeds  the  number  of  "wrongs"  and  the 
pupils'  net  scores  can  be  transposed  to  fit  the  type  of 
rating  used  in  the  individual  schools  by  making  a  chart 
which  will  show  at  a  glance  the  percent  value  (if  that  is 
required)  for  each  pupil's  possible  net  score  from  zero, 
or  below,  to  the  maximum  of  fifty,  or  more,  correct  an- 
swers. Under  the  system  of  Relative  Rating  to  be  dis- 
cussed  in  our  next  chapter,  the  grading  of  these  pupils 
is  even  simpler. 

A  third  type  of  examination  may  be  a  modified 
"completion  test"  in  which  the  pupil  is  given  from 
ten  to  twenty  longer  or  shorter  sentences  or  state- 
ments based  upon  the  subject-matter  he  is  studying. 
From  each  sentence  or  statement  the  examiner  will  pre- 
viously have  erased  certain  key  words,  or  key  phrases, 
whose  replacement  is  left  to  the  pupil  in  order  to  make 
the  statement  complete  and  valid. 

In  order  to  lessen  the  time  needed  for  the  test  with- 
out greatly  lessening  its  value  as  an  examination,  the 
missing  word  or  phrase  may  sometimes  be  supplied  as 
one  of  four  or  five  from  which  the  pupil  must  select  the 
single  one  which  will  make  the  statement  correct  —  as  for 
two  very  simple  examples,  "In  order  to  find  the  annual 
interest  upon  an  investment  we  must  (add,  subtract,  mul- 
tiply, divide)  the  amount  invested the  rate  per 


298  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

cent."  In  this  case  the  pupil  would  be  expected  to  under- 
line "multiply"  and  insert  "by"  in  the  blank  space.  Again 
"The  earliest  New  England  settlers  were  men  of  great 
(weakness,  indecision,  determination,  disagreement), 
though  they  were  (fully  aware,  largely  ignorant,  in- 
formed, independent)  of  the  difficulties  that  lay  before 
them." 

By  questions  of  this  type  it  is  possible  for  the  examiner 
to  put  his  finger  at  once  upon  the  exact  point  he  wishes  to 
test  with  no  possibility  of  evasion  or  misunderstanding, 
as  in  the  illustrations  above  upon  "multiply"  and  upon 
"determination." 

Let  no  one  suppose  that  these  newer  plans  of  "recogni- 
tion," or  "true  or  false  statement"  or  "completion"  exami- 
nations can  be  worked  out  easily  or  in  a  short  space  of 
time.  The  older  type  of  examinations  could  be  "set"  in 
half  an  hour,  the  newer  type  can  often  not  be  worked  out 
satisfactorily  in  a  week. 

The  great  gain,  however,  comes  in  the  entire  absence 
of  fatigue  and  prostration  on  the  part  of  pupils  and 
teacher  that  so  often  accompanied  or  followed  the  formal 
day  of  examination.  The  pupils  are  no  longer  subjected 
to  the  nervous  depletion  once  thought  unavoidable  at 
such  a  time.  There  is  no  longer  a  period  of  suspense  and 
fear  "while  the  papers  are  being  corrected."  Best  of 
all  the  teacher  is  able  to  begin  the  new  work  that  lies 
just  ahead  with  energies  unimpaired  by  the  strain  of 
days  of  "marking  papers."  Under  the  newer  plan  "mark- 
ing papers"  may  be  almost  unbelievably  simple  and  easy. 

The  pupils  are  given  the  mimeographed  sheets,  or  they 
may  enter  a  room  where  the  questions  are  written  on  the 
board,  or  they  may  even  be  simply  provided  with  blank 
sheets  upon  which  the  answers  are  to  be  recorded  as  the 
teacher  dictates  them  —  the  first  plan  being  undoubtedly 
the  best  one. 


EXAMINATIONS   AND   RECOGNITION   TESTS      299 

The  working  period,  varying  with  the  subject,  the 
number  of  questions,  the  exact  type  of  statement  em- 
ployed, may  range  from  twenty  to  forty  minutes,  to  sur- 
pass in  accuracy  the  old-time  three-hour  examination. 

When  the  examination  is  completed,  after  thirty  min- 
utes or  so,  each  pupil  will  have  upon  his  answer  paper, 
which  he  hands  in,  a  long  numbered  column,  or  columns, 
marked  V  or  X,  or  yes  or  no  or  possibly  a  series  of  under- 
scored words  or  phrases. 

The  pupils  having  been  previously  directed  to  arrange 
their  papers  in  absolutely  identical  fashion,  the  teacher 
now  has  but  to  place  alongside  each  pupil's  answer  list,his 
own  correct  answer  guide, and  to  check  or  cross  the  pupil's 
answers  as  they  agree  or  fail  to  agree  with  his  own  key 
list.  To  total  and  subtract  takes  but  an  instant,  so  that 
each  pupil's  paper  can  be  finally  corrected  and  scored  in 
thirty  seconds,  or  even  less,  as  one  becomes  more  skillful. 
No  question  of  judgment  is  involved ;  there  is  no  delay  and 
no  appreciable  fatigue.  In  two  hours  the  teacher  can 
now  do  what  under  the  old  plan  would  have  taken  twenty 
hours. 

Indeed  still  further,  when  a  class  can  be  trusted  to  fol- 
low directions  exactly  and  implicitly,  it  may  even  be 
asked  to  score  the  test  results  for  its  own  and  similar 
classes,  thereby  enabling  the  teacher  to  secure  and  tabu- 
late the  final  results  in  an  incredibly  short  time. 

Though  not  necessarily  always  desirable,  it  is  possible 

with  Si  FFICIENTLY  THOUGHTFUL  AND  PAINSTAKING  PREPA- 
RATION to  give  a  test  to  two  hundred  pupils  and  to  tab- 
ulate the  final  ratings  all  in  a  forty-five  minute  period. 
It  i<  also  possible  to  get  more  extended  and  dependable 
measurements  than  could  be  secured  on  the  old  plan  by  a 
three-hour  examination  with  twenty  hours  for  reading, 
grading  and  tabulating  the  answers. 


300  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

For  a  moment  let  us  review  the  gains  secured  by 
such  a  new  type  of  examination  as  we  propose. 

First:  It  gives  both  pupil  and  teacher  a  far  more 
complete  and  accurate  picture  of  the  pupil's  own  knowl- 
edge or  skill  than  was  ever  possible  under  the  old  plan. 

Second:  It  wholly  saves  each  pupil  from  the  fatigue, 
the  strain,  and  the  terror  that  seemed  often  a  necessary  ac- 
companiment of  the  long  written  test. 

Third:  It  conserves  the  teacher's  strength  for  teach- 
ing and  for  constructive  work,  instead  of  sentencing  him 
to  hour  after  hour  of  painful  drudgery  in  the  correction 
of  examination  papers. 

Not  that  the  teacher  escapes  scot-free  from  the  work 
of  examination  by  this  new  method  of  testing,  but  that 
the  work  is  now  of  a  different  type  —  valuable,  inter- 
esting and  constructive.  Instead  of  spending  one  hour 
in  making  up  an  examination  paper  and  from  twelve  to 
twenty  hours  correcting  the  answers,  the  teacher  now 
docs  his  hard  work  before  the  examination  begins.  In- 
stead of  spending  one  hour  in  making  the  paper,  the 
teacher  may  now  spend  more  than  four  or  five  hours  in 
preparation.  The  points  to  be  covered  in  the  test  are 
noted  and  tentative  statements  of  questions  are  written 
down,  until  finally  in  a  longer  or  shorter  period,  from 
fifty  to  a  hundred  questions,  or  statements,  are  prepared 
for  the  test  itself.  When  it  is  possible,  mimeographed  or 
hectographed  sheets  are  desirable,  but  even  dictated 
questions  with  a  reasonable  pause  for  the  scoring  does 
not  appear  greatly  to  modify  the  results.  Yet  the 
results  justify  the  difference  in  preparation,  for  the  newer 
type  can  be  framed  to  give  definite,  exact,  objective 
standards  of  measurement  which  will  be  practically 
uniform  no  matter  who  corrects  the  papers — whereas  the 
older  type  of  examination  tested  so  many  things  as  a 


EXAMINATIONS   AND   RECOGNITION   TESTS      301 

rule  in  one  single  question,  that  the  personal  equation  of 
the  examiner  made  possible  variations  in  grading  that 
might  range  from  as  low  as  40%  to  as  high  as  90%  on 
the  very  same  examination  paper. 

Furthermore  the  task  of  preparing  the  newer  type  of 
examination  may  be  lessened,  if,  from  the  very  start 
of  the  period  to  be  covered  later  by  a  formal  written 
test,  the  teacher  begins  to  work  up  a  set  of  possible 
questions  by  framing  each  day  one  or  more  questions 
that  may  be  of  use  in  the  final  examination. 

However,  the  whole  idea  is  so  new  and  so  insufficiently 
tried  that  it  has  been  found  to  be  as  yet  largely  a  matter 
of  self-training  and  experimentation  for  each  teacher 
who  would  enter  this  almost  untrodden  field.  And  yet 
there  seems  no  possibility  of  ultimate  failure  if  the 
intelligent  experimenter  continually  uses  as  a  guide  or 
pattern  one  or  more  of  the  established  tests  of  general 
intelligence  now  so  easily  obtainable. 

No  one  will  yet  contend  that  any  teacher  can  at  once 
sit  down  and  work  out  an  examination  of  the  newer  type 
that  will  defy  criticism,  yet  in  so  far  as  any  teacher  is 
able  to  approximate  the  newer  type  of  examinations  in 
a  worthy  form,  by  just  that  much  the  final  examinations 
of  the  future  will  be  robbed  of  their  terrors  and  the  labors 
of  the  teacher  will  be  lightened. 

By  using  carefully  thought  out  Recognition  Tests  it 
is  possible  to  examine  all  the  pupils  of  a  school  on  one 
day  and  to  have  their  examination  ratings  ready  the  next 
day  without  any  other  disturbance  of  the  school  than 
the  setting  of  a  uniform  time  for  each  thirty-minute  test. 
so  that  pupils  previously  examined  may  not  be  tempted 
to  give  information  to  those  whose  test  in  the  same  sub- 
ject is  still  to  come. 

On  the  day  following  the  tests,  a  series  of  grade  con- 


302  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

ferences  may  decide  what  pupils,  if  any,  are  to  be  moved 
up  or  down  from  the  homogeneous  speed  group  in  which 
they  were  placed  at  the  time  of  the  examination.  By  the 
end  of  the  second  day  the  school  may  be  moving  ahead 
as  steadily  as  if  there  had  been  no  promotion  day  at  all, 
the  clerical  work  is  finished,  the  promotions  are  over  and 
past. 

Even  if  this  picture  seems  unbelievably  rose-hued,  it 
is  still  within  the  possibilities  for  every  junior  high  school, 
that  will  plan  its  promotion  days  with  sufficient  fore- 
thought and  intelligent  care,  to  demonstrate  this  picture 
for  itself.  Even  if  one  hundred  per  cent  efficiency  does 
not  come  on  the  first,  second,  or  even  third,  trial,  the  gain 
each  time  (even  the  first  time)  over  the  old  plan  will  win 
converts  consistently  from  the  pupils,  teachers  and  super- 
visors. Let  us  not  therefore  be  prejudiced  against  try- 
ing the  new  plan  because  it  is  easier  than  seems  reason- 
able, but  rather  let  us  be  open  to  conviction  that  it  is  bet- 
ter because  it  is  more  accurate,  whether  easier  or  not. 
Four  or  five  honest  trials  will  do  the  rest. 

However,  if  we  decide  to  try  the  new  examinations  at 
all,  let  us  resolve  at  the  beginning  to  try  them  for  a  sem- 
ester, giving  quarterly  examinations,  or  monthly  exam- 
inations as  we  prefer.  The  one  thing  that  we  must  keep 
in  mind  is  that  we  are  almost  sure  to  make  mistakes 
at  the  beginning,  so  we  must  resolve  in  advance  not  to 
give  up  the  experiment  because  our  first  trials  may  be 
only  partially  satisfactory. 

Were  the  Chinese  who  study  three  years  for  a  three- 
clay  examination  truly  anxious  to  determine  not  memory, 
but  fitness,  for  civil  service  promotion,  it  is  probable  that 
a  psychological  test  could  be  devised  that  would  give  the 
Chinese  authorities  in  thirty  minutes  a  more  accurate  and 
dependable  test  of  mental  fitness  than  the  present  gruel- 


EXAMINATIONS   AND   RECOGNITION   TESTS      303 

ling  grind  discloses.  Equally,  in  our  American  schools 
and  colleges,  it  is  possible  and  probable  that  the  next  few 
years  will  devise  mental  tests  for  which  one  cannot 
"cram"  or  prepare  by  a  short  period  of  super-application 
and  yet  which  will  give  in  one  tenth  the  time  results  more 
accurate  than  are  secured  from  any  tests  now  in  vogue. 

Indeed,  Columbia  College  has  already  pointed  the  way 
—  and  to  the  surprise  of  many  critics  the  new,  specially 
devised  entrance  tests  of  general  intelligence,  in  so  far 
as  they  have  been  studied,  correlate  or  agree  more  nearly 
with  the  entering  student's  subsequent  first  year's  achieve- 
ment than  do  any  other  estimates  of  the  student's  fitness 
that  can  be  secured  in  advance  of  the  actual  college  work 
itself.  It  has  even  now  been  indicated  at  Columbia  that 
the  probable  character  of  a  student's  first  year  of  work 
can  be  more  truly  forecast  by  such  special  "intelligence 
test"  than  by  the  result  of  his  teacher's  estimates,  his 
principal's  estimates,  his  (N.  Y.  State)  Regents  exami- 
nations, or  even  his  uniform  college  entrance  examina- 
tions set  by  college  professors  themselves.  We  may  not 
therefore  be  charged  with  over-optimism  if  we  look  for- 
ward to  a  steady  increase  in  the  institutions  adopting 
something  very  different  from  the  old  line,written  tests. 

However,  without  waiting  for  these  new-type  tests  to 
be  generally  introduced,  or  even  to  be  specially  devised 
for  us  in  the  junior  high  school,  we  may  work  as  pioneers 
in  cle'aring  the  way  for  the  new  tests  that  seem  bound  to 
arrive. 

As  an  example  of  one  of  the  best  of  the  newer  type 
of  examinations  the  following  sample  examination  may  be 
of  interest  merely  as  a  model.  Of  course  this  examinal  ion, 
intended  for  young  men  in  their  thirteenth  school  year, 
freshmen  at  Columbia  University  completing  their  first 
year  of  college  work,  is  far  above  the  capacity  of  any 


304  THE  JUNIOR   HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

junior  high  school  group.  Yet  from  a  study  of  this  ex- 
amination which  is  in  many  ways  the  best  of  its  kind 
I  have  ever  seen,  we  may  form  some  idea  of  the  newer 
type  of  examination  that  we  may  set  for  our  much 
younger  and  far  less  mature  pupils. 

The  entire  test  is  not  printed  here,  but  approximately 
one  tenth  of  it  only.  The  questions  we  quote  are  selected 
at  random. 


CONTEMPORARY  CIVILIZATION  1920-1921 

Sample   Examination 

Directions  for  Part  I:  Read  these  statements  and  mark 
each  one  at  the  left  of  its  number  with  a  plus  or  minus  sign 
according  as  you  judge  it  to  be  true  or  false.  Each  correct 
mark  gives  one  credit;  each  incorrect  mark  counts  as  a 
penalty  against  you  and  is  subtracted  from  your  score;  omitted 
sentences  count  neither  for  nor  against  you.  In  judging  the 
truth  or  fallacy  of  a  sentence,  take  the  whole  sentence  as  a 
unit.  Your  score  will  be  based  only  upon  plus  and  minus 
signs;  don't  waste  time  writing  anything  else  on  these  sheets. 
Remember,  an  omission  counts  against  you  much  less  than 
a  wrong  response. 

A 

1.  In   general   water-bodies   and    mountains   have   been,    not 

centers,  but  barriers  of  civilization. 

2.  The  civilization  of  the  Phoenicians,  Greeks  and  Romans 

centered  about  several  short  river  basins. 

3.  The  country  with  widely  differentiated   climate  has  many 

advantages  over  countries  with  very  uniform   climates. 

4.  Isothermal  and  rainfall  maps  show  that   there  is  greater 

variety  and  irregularity  of  climate  in  the  southern  than 
in  the  northern  hemisphere. 

5.  The  Atlantic  and  Gulf  states  need   irrigation  because  of 

the  low  mean  annual  rainfall. 


EXAMINATIONS   AND   RECOGNITION   TESTS      305 


B 

1.  Man's  mental  life  is  in  an  appreciably  large  measure  identical 

with  that  of  the  lower  animals,  especially  of  the  most 
highly  developed  vertebrates,  such  as  the  monkey. 

2.  In  the  same  organism  the  same  situation  will  always  pro- 

duce the  same  response. 

3.  Instincts  as  such  are  inadequate  to  adjust  either  the  in- 

dividual or  the  group  to  contemporary  conditions. 

4.  Intelligent  habits  are  most  easily  acquired  in  the  maturer 

years  of  a  man's  life. 

5.  A  man  weeding  a  garden  may  tire  of  the  weeding  long  be- 

fore he  is  really  physically  exhausted  by  the  work  itself 


1.  The  ideas  of  nationalism  and  of  democracy  are  essentially 

modern  in  their  expression. 

2.  In  Italy  and  in  the  Netherlands  the  city  states  were  the 

political  units  in  1500. 

3.  The  merchant  guilds  were  more  democratic  than  the  craft 

guilds. 

4.  According  to  Hayes  the  one  motive  of  the  Spanish   dis- 

coverers on  the  high  seas  was  commercial  rivalry  with  the 
Italian  merchant  cities. 
.3.  India,  was  won  for  England  by  the  English  East  India  (  !om- 
pany,  first  organized  in  1600,  which  conducted  the  con- 
quest and  government  of  India  for  over  two  centuries. 

Part  II 

Directions  for  Part  II.  Fill  in  the  blank  spaces  so  as  to 
make  the  sentences  sensible  and  true;  you  get  one  credil  for 
each  blank  filled  so  that  it  makes  sense. 

A 

A  society  mav  be  democratic  in  its  form  and 

still in  fact  li  the  majority  of  its  citizens  are  merely 


306  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

machines  which  can  be to  respond  in  certain  deter- 
minate    to  customary  stimuli  of  names,  party  slo- 
gans and  leaders.  Literally,  most  people  think,  if  at  all,  when 
they and they  have  to. 

B 

Just  as  agriculture  is  the  ultimate   of  human 

society,  so has  always  been  an  index  of  culture  and 

civilization.  And  the  of  town  life  have  ever  de- 
pended on  the  vicissitudes  of  and  So 

the  reviving  commerce  of  the  middle  ages  be- 
tween Europe  and  meant  the of  cities 

and  betokened  an in  civilization. 


Part  III 

Directions  for  Part  III.  In  the  following  sentences  you 
have  four  or  more  choices  for  the  last  word.  Draw  a  line  under 
the  one  word  which  you  think  will  make  the  sentence  sensible 
and  true. 

A 

1.  Modern  culture  is  most  nearly  akin  to  that  of  the  Ancient 

Romans      Athenians      Spartans. 

2.  The  Reformation  in  England  took  place  about      1490     1550 

1600     1670. 

3.  The  term  Huguenots  was  applied  to  residents  in  France  who 

professed  the  teachings  of  Calvin     Zwingli    Luther    John 
Huss      John  Knox. 

4.  The  Pacification  of  Ghent   involved  primarily  the  people 

of  Spain      France      Holland      England. 

5.  The  principal  motive  of  Columbus  in  sailing  westward  was 

scientific        religious        commercial        patriotic. 

B 

1.  Rural  isolation  is  made  unsatisfactory  principally  by  the 
instinct  of  gregariousness  sympathy  love  imita- 
tion. 


EXAMINATIONS   AND   RECOGNITION   TESTS      307 

The  tendency  of  man  to  believe  as  others  believe  is  due 
to  sympathy  gregariousness  submissiveness  love  of 
country      fear. 

C 

The  nation  which  has  the  largest  coal  areas  is  Germain- 
China        United  Kingdom        India        U.  S.  A. 


Part  IV 

Directions  for  Part  IV.  Write  in  brief  space  the  most  im- 
portant things  you  know  about  the  following  suggestive  words 
and  phrases;  do  not  follow  the  order  in  which  they  are  printed 
here,  but  write  first  about  those  that  you  know  most  about. 
The  sample  is  simply  a  hint,  and  not  a  model  which  you  must 
follow. 

Competing  Impulses  —  Loss  of  efficiency  in  a  given  task  due 
to  these  is  frequently  miscalled  fatigue.  Thorndike  tells  us  that 
we  are  more  often  tired  of  work,  not  by  it.  It  is  not  fatigue  but 
distraction  that  impairs  efficiency  and  makes  us  quit,  in  the 
great  majority  of  cases;  we  frequently  work  freely  at  a  task 
that  we  like  for  many  consecutive  hours,  and  are  impatient  if 
we  are  compelled  to  stop;  but  we  cannot  quit  an  unwelcome 
task  too  soon.  Literally,  we  are  often  more  tired  by  not  doing 
something  than  by  what  we  are  doing. 

Social  Inertia 

Restriction  of  Population 

Functions  of  the  Merchant  Guild 

Two  sample  examinations  in  junior  high  school  English 
may  serve  in  a  way  to  show  the  possibilities  in  this 
work. 

The  first,  a  test  on  events  and  names,  may  serve  to 
discover  evidence  of  the  pupil's  actual  interest  in  the 
book  he  has  read,  or  in  other  words,  the  vividness  of  his 
impressions  as  measured  by  his  memory  of  the  details 
of  the  story. 

The  second  test  may  be  used  to  measure  the  success  of 
attempting  to  teach  an  understanding  of  men  and  motives 


308  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

—  vicarious  experience  if  you  will  —  to  develop  the  pu- 
pil's own  powers  of  inference  and  judgment. 

Approximately  one  tenth  of  the  questions  in  each  test 
are  reproduced  here. 

Questions  on  Events  and  Names  in 
Treasure  Island 

Check  the  right  word  or  statement. 

1.  The  name  of  the  inn  where  Jim  Hawkins  lived  was 

(a)  The  Spy-Glass 

(b)  The  Spanish  Main 

(c)  The  Royal  George 
fill  The  Admiral  Benbow 

2.  When  the  mutineers  reached  the  treasure-cache  they  dis- 

covered 

(a)  the  money  intact 

(b)  the  treasure  stolen 

(c)  pig  nuts 

3.  Squire  Trelawney  was  assisted  in  picking  the  crew  by 

la)   Dr.  Livesay 

(b)  John  Silver 

(c)  Captain  Smollet 

(d)  Tom  Redruth 

4.  Silver  came  in  possession  of  the  chart  because 

(a)  Captain  Smollet  gave  it  to  him 

(b)  he  stole  it  from  Jim 

(c)  he  found  it  in  the  block  house 

5.  Jim  and  his  mother  were  saved  from  the  pirates 

(a)  by  the  revenue  officers 

(b)  by  Squire  Trelawney 

(c)  by  the  quarrels  of  the  pirates  among  themselves 

Questions  of  Inference  and  Judgment  on 
Treasure  Island 

Mark  with  a  plus  sisn  the  statements  that  are  true.     Mark 
with  a  circle  sign  the  statements  that  are  false. 
1.  John  Silver  changed  his  ways  as  the  result  of  the  kindness 
shown  him. 


EXAMINATIONS   AND   RECOGNITION   TESTS      309 

2.  Jim  did  not  believe  Ben  Gunn's  story. 

3.  Jim's    information    about    the    intended    plot    caught    his 

friends  unprepared. 

4.  Sending  the  mutinous  crew  ashore  practically  started  the 

hostilities. 

5.  It  would  have  been  better  for  Jim's  friends  if  he  had  stayed 

in  the  Block-House. 


QUESTIONS 

1.  What   are   the    chief   arguments   against    the   long    written 

examination? 

2.  What  are  the  merits  of  such  tests? 

3.  Why  can   (cannot)    promotion  examinations  be  dispensed 

with? 

4.  Who  suffers  most  in  fatigue,  the  teacher  or  the  pupil  and 

why?    What  ill  results? 

5.  Why  are  frequent  promotion  periods  highly  desirable? 

6.  What  bars  this  frequency  at  present? 

7.  Have  I  secured  at  least  three  modern  types  of  group  tests 

for  general  intelligence  with  their  respective  phamplets 
showing  how  I  may  conduct  these  tests  myself? 

8.  Give  with  illustrations  at  least  three  types  of  questions  used 

in  these  group  tests. 

9.  What  benefits  may  result   from  modeling  our  junior  high 

school  examinations  on  these  tests? 

10.  What  is  the  chief  barrier  to  preparing  such  tests  at  present0 

The  very  best  book  upon  the  subject  of  tests  of  general 
intelligence  appears  to  the  author  to  be  the  "The  Memoirs  of 
the  National  Academy  of  Sciences"  Vol.  XV,  1921,  published  by 
the  Government  Printing  Office,  Washington,  D.  C.  This  work 
is  as  bulky  as  an  unabridged  dictionary,  but  full  to  the  cover 
of  facts  most  valuable  to  one  attempting  to  construct  the  newei 
type  of  tests. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

RELATIVE   RATINGS   AND   PUPILS'   REPORT 
CARDS 

School  reports  and  report  cards  have  been  so  long  a 
matter  of  custom  that  we  are  apt  to  assume  that  their 
usefulness  is  beyond  question. 

To  be  sure,  parents,  who  send  their  children  to  a  school 
which  they  themselves  rarely,  if  ever,  visit,  have  an 
unquestioned  right  to  know  how  their  child's  progress 
in  school  is  being  maintained,  but  it  is  by  no  means 
a  settled  question  as  to  whether  or  not  the  usual  school 
report-card  gives  the  parents  the  information  which  they 
have  a  right  and  a  duty  to  receive. 

The  pupil  himself  is  also  interested  in  his  school  re- 
ports and  they  are  valuable  to  him  chiefly  in  assisting 
him  to  gain  the  ability  to  judge  correctly  his  own  prog- 
ress in  the  school  work  he  is  pursuing.  Parents  and 
teachers  are  all  too  familiar  with  the  pupil  who  main- 
tains, with  all  the  power  at  his  command,  that  his  ratings 
are  unfair,  prejudiced  and  altogether  too  low,  giving  an 
entirely  incorrect  record  of  his  actual  achievement. 

In  the  very  great  majority  of  such  instances  the  parent, 
or  surely  the  teacher,  if  he  will  take  the  time,  can  ex- 
plain the  ratings  to  the  pupil's  entire  satisfaction  and 
such  time  is  often  very  well  spent  in  doing  this.  However, 
this  but  illustrates  the  necessity  for  training  pupils  to 
form  a  correct  estimate  of  their  own  success  or  failure 
in  the  work  at  hand.  How  can  we  expect  a  deficient 
pupil  to  improve  in  his  daily  class  work  if  in  his  own 

310 


RELATIVE  RATINGS  AND  REPORT  CARDS  311 

estimation  that  work  is  already  highly  satisfactory?  Our 
school  reports,  if  they  are  the  result  of  careful  and 
painstaking  study  on  the  part  of  each  teacher,  can  and  do 
perform  a  very  distinct  service  in  checking  up  the  pupil's 
estimate  of  his  own  success,  and  the  parent  owes  it  to 
his  child  to  support  the  teacher's  ratings. 

To  the  teacher,  too,  these  periodic  reports  are  especially 
valuable  in  that  they  require  him  periodically  to  take 
stock  of  his  own  work  and  of  his  own  success  as  a  teacher. 
Though  some  teachers  take  pride  in  being  "hard 
markers,"  and  promote,  as  a  proof  of  their  own  thor- 
oughness, a  comparatively  small  portion  of  each  class 
they  instruct,  still  the  wise  teacher  knows  that  there  is 
a  direct  relationship  between  the  number  promoted  and 
his  own  skill  in  teaching  and  is,  therefore,  genuinely  in- 
terested and  greatly  helped  by  the  periodic  report  which 
is  sent  to  each  pupil's  home. 

Every  one  connected  with  the  school  which  a  pupil  at- 
tends may  therefore  be  benefited  by  the  periodic  reports 
which  the  school  may  send  out  —  the  parents  gaining 
information  as  to  their  children's  progress,  the  pupils 
gaining  the  ability  to  estimate  more  correctly  their  own 
success  in  school  and  the  teacher  gaining  a  better  idea 
of  his  own  work  of  instruction. 

It  does  not,  however,  follow  by  any  means  that  any 
kind  of  a  report,  or  even  that  the  usual  home  report 
card,  can  and  does  secure  these  advantages.  To  be  sure, 
a  poor  report-card  may  be  better  than  none,  but  it  is 
easily  possible  for  a  report-card  to  give  incorrect,  faulty, 
or  imperfect  information  that  will  do  as  much  harm  as 
good  to  the  three  parties  most  concerned. 

Restricting  ourselves  for  the  time  wholly  to  school  re- 
ports in  the  major  subjects  of  study — English,  Mathe- 
matics, History,  etc.,  etc. — we  find  that  until  recently  the 


312  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

customary  form  of  report  has  been  a  percentage  mark  as 
"Reading  79%,  Grammar  73rc,  Composition  77%,  etc., 
etc.  The  report-card  carried  the  information,  or  the 
parent  was  supposed  to  know,  that  70%  ,  for  example,  was 
the  passing  mark.  From  the  report-card  therefore  the 
parent  might  gain  some  idea  of  his  child's  distance  in 
"points"  either  above,  or  below,  that  pre-announced  per- 
centage which  served  to  indicate  failure. 

"When  students  of  education  began  to  make  a  study  of 
school  ratings,  they  at  once  discovered  that  the  percentage 
ratings  of  general  class  work  supplied  a  picture  of  rating 
accuracy  that  was  grossly  exaggerated.  Even  in  the  cor- 
rection of  written  examination  papers  the  most  accurate 
of  all  school  ratings,  it  was  found  that  three  or  four  teach- 
ers, marking  the  very  same  paper,  might  easily  vary  as 
much  as  the  difference  between  55 %  and  75 %  in  their 
estimates.  Indeed  it  was  shown  that  the  very  same 
teacher,  marking  the  \&cy  same  examination  papers  after 
a  lapse  of  several  days  or  weeks,  might  easily  vary  at 
least  ten  percent  in  his  estimate  of  the  same  pupil's  writ- 
ten answers.  How  much  greater,  therefore,  could  be  the 
error  in  estimating  a  pupil's  achievement  in  class-room 
work,  consisting,  as  it  may,  of  recitations,  blackboard 
work,  home  study,  special  assignments  and,  possibly,  lab- 
oratory work,  or  class  excursions.  If  a  written  examina- 
tion cannot  give  an  accurate  statement  in  a  percentage 
rank,  howT  much  less  can  a  teacher  sum  up  all  those  vari- 
ous elements  combined  in  "class  work''  and  give  them 
a  percentage  rank  that  is  a  true  measure  of  the  pupil's 
achievement. 

It  was  shown  by  those  who  specialized  on  this  inves- 
tigation that  as  for  example  between  ratings  of  75',  and 
80rr  in  any  subject,  there  was.  as  a  rule,  absolutely  no 
actual  differerfce  whatsoever  in  terms  of  the  pupil's  real 


RELATIVE   RATINGS   AND   REPORT   CARDS     313 

achievement.  Indeed,  the  best  that  could  be  said  for  any 
percentage  mark  showing  the  pupils'  class-room  progress, 
was  that  it  gave  a  rough  approximation  of  the  pupils' 
actual  achievement. 

As  a  result  of  this  awakening,  students  of  education 
proposed  the  plan  of  group  marking  which  has  more  and 
more  come  into  general  use.  By  this  plan,  pupils  are 
given  a  letter  or  a  number  which  shows  their  member- 
ship in  a  class-room  sub-group  of  pupils  more  or  less 
alike  in  school  success.  The  symbols  are  usually  either 
numbers  or  letters,  such  as,  1,  2,  3,  4,  (5)  ;  or  I,  II,  III,  IV 
(V),  or  A,  B,  C,  D  (E).  A  certain  number  or  letter  is 
selected  to  indicate  failure  usually  4,  IV,  or  D,  while  the 
preceding  marks  in  the  sequence  are  supposed  to  indicate 
increased  success  up  to  1,  I,  or  A,  which  is  the  highest  rat- 
ing obtainable  under  this  system.  The  merits  of  this 
group  marking  system  consist  chiefly  in  the  fact  that 
both  parents  and  pupils  are  no  longer  misled  by  ratings 
that  appear  to  make  most  accurate  statements,  while,  in 
reality,  they  may  record  something  quite  different.  An 
added  merit  in  the  adoption  of  the  group  mark  lies  in 
the  blow  it  has  given  some  few  hair-splitting  teachers 
who  were  wont  to  make  distinctions  in  rating  between 
pupils  even  so  closely  graded  as  72.3%  and  72.4%  and 
other  utterly  absurd  distinctions. 

Therefore,  if  our  aim  is  to  give  parents,  pupils  and 
teachers  a  really  accurate  picture  of  the  pupils'  progress 
in  his  school  work,  we  shall  be  obliged  to  revise 
our  "home  reports"  very  greatly.  It  is  but  natural  that 
the  proposed  improvement  in  home  reports  should  be 
adopted  more  readily  in  the  junior  high  school  than  in 
schools  more  bound  by  custom  and  tradition.  Morever, 
the  classification  of  pupils  into  homogeneous  speed  groups 
lends  itself  more  readily  to  a  new  rating  plan  than  doc- 


314  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

a  classification  based  on  other  considerations  alone.  But 
first  let  us  consider  some  further  very  obvious  defects 
that  may  easily  exist  in  the  two  older  systems  of  rating 
pupils. 

In  the  first  place,  we  may  have  assumed  that  for  any 
definite  class  and  pupil  the  rating  "Arithmetic  60%"  had 
a  very  exact  significance.  This  assumption  may  be  based 
upon  our  belief  that  in  this  class  a  child  of  average  abil- 
ity might  secure  a  rating  of  "Arithmetic  100%,"  if  atten- 
tive and  industrious.  The  parent,  at  least,  has  no  very 
definite  idea  of  the  particular  requirements  upon  which 
tliis  rating  is  based  and  will  usually  assume  the  100% 
possibility  for  his  child.  There  are,  however,  very  many 
factors  usually  neglected  by  the  parent  that  enter  into  the 
"Arithmetic  60%"  that  we  are  considering.  If  the  teacher 
has  based  this  particular  rating  upon  work  so  difficult 
that  the  class  average  in  arithmetic  at  this  time  is  50%, 
then  the  rating  of  60%  is  not  the  low  rating  its  numerical 
value  would  seem  to  indicate.  If  it  should  happen  for  the 
month  or  so  which  this  rating  is  supposed  to  cover,  that 
the  highest  rating  secured  by  any  pupil  in  this  "average" 
class  was  60%,  then  the  apparently  mediocre,  or  dis- 
graceful, rating  of  60%  really  indicates  phenomenal  suc- 
cess on  the  part  of  the  pupil  who  won  a  60%  rank  for  the 
period.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  it  should  happen  that  the 
work  for  this  particular  period  was  so  simple  that  the 
class  as  a  whole  secured  ratings  in  arithmetic  above  90'  '<  . 
then  a  single  rating  of  60%  would  call  for  the  parent's 
immediate  and  serious  condemnation  of  his  child's  lack 
of  application  to  school  work. 

To  be  sure,  it  may  be  maintained  that  our  school  work 
should  be  so  graded  that  there  should  be  no  such  fluctu- 
ations in  difficulty  as  we  have  portrayed,  to  the  end  that 
60%  should  mean  exactly  60%  of  the  possible  100%  within 


RELATIVE   RATINGS   AND   REPORT   CARDS     315 

reach  of  every  average  pupil.  Yet,  however  much  we 
may  desire  such  a  grading  of  work,  we  are  still  so  far 
from  reaching  even  a  rough  approximation  of  a  week-by- 
week  grading  in  difficulty,  that  we  are  obliged  to  give  up 
hope  for  the  present  of  securing  such  a  permanent  ar- 
rangement. Indeed,  even  if  the  work  itself  could  be 
graded  so  perfectly  in  difficulty  as  to  appear  to  give  each 
percentage  rating  the  hope  of  becoming  a  genuine  ap- 
proximation of  true  school  success,  there  would  always  be 
other  factors  to  reduce  its  credibility.  A  national  hol- 
iday, a  school  entertainment,  a  school  baseball  game, 
even  a  close  inter-class  athletic  contest  might  easily 
sway  the  class  average  in  any  subject  away  from  that 
perfect  mark  which  uniform  grading  might  otherwise 
have  made  possible. 

What  is  true  of  the  general  unreliability  of  the  picture 
presented  by  a  percentage  rating  applies  also,  though 
to  a  lessened  degree,  to  the  numerical  or  letter  ratings, 
which  are,  after  all,  but  groupings  of  percentage  marks. 
The  rating  3,  III,  or  C,  after  all,  usually  means  that 
the  pupil  with  such  a  rating  is  given  a  percentage  mark 
somewhere  between  60%  and  70%  in  his  subject.  There- 
fore, under  conditions  already  described,  namely,  a  very 
difficult  or  an  extremely  easy  examination,  there  might 
easily  be  class  situations  where  a  rating  of  "C"  might 
indicate  either  a  very  good  or  an  extremely  poor  month's 
work,  depending  largely  upon  the  ratings  secured  at  this 
time  by  our  pupil's  own  classmates  who  were  given 
similar  tasks  and  similar  instruction  in  preparation  for 
this  same  test. 

After  all,  is  it  not  the  relative  standing  of  a  pupil,  a 
statement  of  his  work  compared  with  his  classmates,  that 
is  of  most  v;ilue  to  the  parent,  to  the  pupil  himself  and  to 
his  teacher?    If  we,  as  parents,  wish  to  judge  our  child's 


316  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 

progress  in  school,  is  not  the  best  indication  of  that  prog- 
ress some  rating  to  show  us  whether  our  child  is  leading 
his  class,  keeping  up  with  the  class  average,  or  falling  be- 
hind the  others  of  his  group?  Ought  we  not  to  be  in- 
formed how  our  child  compares  in  work  with  other 
children  who  are  attempting  to  do  the  same  work  as 
our  child  under,  on  the  whole,  the  same  conditions 
of  teacher,  grade  and  class.  If  we  are  told  that 
our  child's  progress  is  rated  II,  or  B,  we  might  form 
a  picture  of  his  success  that  would  be  greatly  modified 
if  we  happened  to  learn  that  even  the  poorest  students 
in  his  class  likewise  were  rated  B  at  the  time  of  that 
report.  Similarly,  if  our  child  is  rated  III,  or  C,  we  may 
be  led  to  punish  him  for  neglect  of  duty  and  then  be 
astonished  by  finding  out,  after  inquiry  at  the  school,  that 
the  hardest  working  pupils  received  no  higher  rating  than 
III,  or  C,  on  that  report.  Such  things  have  happened  and 
do  happen  over  and  over  again. 

I  remember  well  one  earnest  and  painstaking  teacher 
who  thought  to  make  her  pupils  also  earnest  and  energetic 
by  rating  them  all  as  "D,"  or  failure,  on  their  first  report 
of  any  school  term.  Having  thus  scared  her  pupils  with 
fear  of  failure,  she  gradually,  report  by  report,  advanced 
their  rating  from  "D"  to  "C"  to  "B,"  until  at  promotion 
time  practically  all  were  rated  "A"  and  finished  in  a  blaze 
of  glory.  For  the  parents  of  the  pupils  in  this  class  there 
never  was  a  time  when  the  report  card  had  any  genuine 
significance.  Few  of  her  pupils  were  ever  "D"  and  fewer 
still  were  ever  "A."  There  are  still  teachers  who  find 
soaring  the  pupils,  or  their  parents,  by  unduly  severe  re- 
ports a  more  or  less  effective  way  of  getting  home  lessons 
attended  to.  That  conscientious  parents  are  being  tricked 
into  punishing  their  children  unnecessarily  and  wrong- 
fullv  mav  never  have  entered  such  teachers'  heads — the 


RELATIVE  RATINGS  AND  REPORT  CARDS  317 

one  idea  on  this  subject  that  had  entered  and  remained 
there  was  that  reports  to  parents  could  be  manipulated  so 
as  to  secure  better  results  for  the  class  as  a  whole  than 
could  be  obtained  without  such  reports.  However,  as 
parents  we  have  both  the  right  and  the  duty  to  receive 
reports  that  give  the  truest  possible  picture  of  our  child's 
school  progress.  If  we  are  ever  to  receive  such  a  picture 
it  must  be  worked  out  on  some  scientific  mathematical 
basis  that  permits  of  little  doctoring,  however  praise- 
worthy be  the  motives  behind  such  manipulation  of  the 
ratings  we  receive. 

The  system  of  relative  rating  not  only  gives  a  more 
accurate  picture  of  the  actual  situation  in  which  our  child 
is  placed,  but  over  and  beyond  this,  such  a  system  lends 
itself  not  at  all  to  the  manipulation  that  other  systems 
permit.  The  system  of  relative  ratings  is,  beyond  any 
reasonable  doubt,  the  most  accurate,  as  well  as  the  most 
fool-proof  system,  yet  employed. 

For  the  pupil,  likewise,  the  rating  which  gives  him  an 
idea  of  how  he  is  keeping  up  with  his  fellows  is  of  more 
value  to  him  than  would  be  a  rating  made  by  comparine, 
what  he  does  do  with  some  purely  abstract  standard  which 
the  teacher,  or  superintendent,  puts  down  as  a  theoret- 
ical 100%  of  work  he  should  do,  but  of  which  the  pupil 
himself  can  at  best  have  but  a  hazy  idea. 

For  the  teacher,  as  well  as  for  the  parent  and  the  pu- 
pil, the  value  of  assigning  relative  ratings  is  very  great. 
One  value  to  the  teacher  lies  in  the  emphasis  laid  upon 
offering  only  such  work  and  instruction  as  is  within  (he 
range  of  his  pupils'  actual  power  of  achievement.  An 
accompanying  value  is  in  the  emphasis  placed  upon 
the  human,  rather  than  upon  the  text-book,  phase  of  re- 
cording school  standing.  If  the  teacher  has  a  certain  num- 
ber of   facts,  processes,  or  pages,  to   be  covered   in  a 


318  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

month's  time,  it  is  comparatively  easy,  under  the  old 
plan,  to  penalize  by  a  low  rating  all  who  fail  to  secure  a 
pre-determined  percentage  of  these  facts,  processes,  or 
pages  of  text.  But  this  low  rating  may,  after  all,  be 
simply  the  result  of  the  teacher's  own  failure  to  properly 
introduce,  develop  and  review  the  facts  in  question.  The 
pupils  who  receive,  as  a  class,  more  or  less  uniformly  low 
ratings,  may  easily  be  the  innocent  victims  of  poor  in- 
struction. 

However,  with  the  lash  of  low  ratings  taken  out  of  his 
hands,  the  indifferent  teacher  is  forced  constantly  to 
check  up  and  revise  instruction  so  that  his  class  is  led 
daily  to  attempt  only  such  new  work  as  is,  under  his  more 
skillful  guidance,  really  within  the  mental  range  of 
his  pupil's  possibilities.  For  each  of  the  teacher's  pupils, 
the  major  question  becomes  "How  is  John  Jones  keeping 
up  with  his  class?  The  expert  teacher  is,  as  a  result, 
more  free  to  plan  work  for  his  class  as  a  whole  and  less 
hampered  by  having  to  make  judgments  whose  accuracy 
he  himself  holds  in  question.  This  might  seem  to  fos- 
ter an  undesirable  change  in  the  teacher's  attitude  by 
taking  his  attention  from  the  individual  and  placing 
it  upon  the  class  and  it  might  easily  do  so  if  our  classes 
were  not  graded  in  homogeneous  speed  groups.  Yet, 
where  the  teacher  is  assured  that  his  pupils  are  about 
equal  in  capacity,  the  most  helpful  general  information 
he  can  secure  concerning  any  one  pupil's  individual 
progress  is  how  that  progress  compares  with  the  progress 
of  the  others  in  that  pupil's  class. 

For  over  four  years  at  Speyer  Experimental  Junior 
High  School,  we  have  been  using  relative  ratings  in  re- 
cording our  pupils'  progress  in  their  subjects  of  study. 
As  a  result  of  our  experience,  we  find  that  parents, 
pupils  and  teachers  are  so  thoroughly  committed  to  this 


RELATIVE   RATINGS   AND   REPORT   CARDS     319 

new  form  of  rating  that  a  return  to  one  of  the  older 
systems  would  be  unthinkable. 

For  all  our  reports  to  parents  we  use  the  terms  — 
Average,  Above  Average,  Below  Average,  Excellent  (very 
much  above  average),  Failing  (very  much  below  aver- 
age). To  secure  these  ratings,  we  arrange  our  pupils 
roughly  upon  the  distribution  of  normal  probability  for 
a  class  of  34  children  in  the  same  homogeneous  speed 
groups,   as   follows: 

Symbol  Relative  .Rating  No.  of  Pupils 

1  Excellent     (Very  much  above  average)    .  .3 

2  Above   Average  5 

3  Average  IS 

4  Below  Average 5 

5  Failing  (very  much  below  average)   3 

Total  34 

Whether  the  class  as  a  whole  does  "good"  or  "poor" 
work,  based  on  any  abstract  consideration  of  the  work  for 
the  period  covered  by  the  report,  the  relative  ratings  are 
rarely  varied  in  so  far  as  concerns  the  number  of  pupils 
rated  "Excellent,"  "Above  Average."  "Average,"  "Below 
Average,"  "Failing."  Occasionally,  for  particular  rea- 
sons, the  number  of  "Excellents"  may  drop  to  2,  or  rise  to 
4.  the  "Above  Average"  may  drop  to  4,  or  rise  to  6.  etc., 
etc.,  but,  by  and  large,  the  number  of  pupils  receiving 
similar  ratings  holds  very  closely  to  the  distribution 
shown  for  34  pupils,  i.  e.,  3,  5,  18,  5,  3. 

Based  on  this  distribution,  the  parent  is  able  to  tell 
at  a  glance  how  his  child's  work  is  keeping  up  with  the 
work  of  the  others  in  his  class.  If  his  reports  show  suc- 
cess, by  ratings  of  "Excellent"  or  "Above  Average,"  the 
parent  has  every  reason  for  satisfaction.  If  the  report 
shows  "Below  Average,"  or  "Failing,"  there  is  plain  evi- 


320  THE   JUNIOR  HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

dence  that  some  remedial  action  at  home  or  at  school  is 
called  for.  If  the  report  shows  "Average,"  the  parent's  re- 
action will  depend  largely  upon  his  own  ambitions  for  his 
child's  success  in  school.  At  any  rate,  the  parent  knows  far 
more  accurately  than  ever  before  the  quality  of  work  his 
child  is  doing  in  school.  The  card  carries  home  no 
false  picture  of  success  or  failure  —  the  difficulty  of  the 
work  itself  is  discounted  in  advance  —  the  one  big  pic- 
ture presented  is  that  of  his  child  doing  the  school  work 
at  hand  better  or  worse  than  similar  children  do  it  under 
similar  conditions,  and  this,  after  all,  is  the  picture  that 
means  the  most  to  each  father  or  mother  of  a  child  in 
school. 

There  may  be  some  -who  will  oppose  the  system  of  rel- 
ative rating  on  the  ground  that  it  is  too  vague,  giving  no 
exact  picture  of  the  pupil's  progress  toward  that  abstract 
accomplishment  "promotion"  at  the  term's  end.  To  them 
we  may  answer  that  if  promotion  is  genuinely  within 
reach  of  that  pupil's  possibilities,  he  will  reach  it  more 
surely  when  encouraged  by  relative  ratings  than  he  will 
if  discouraged  by  a  system  which  holds  him  to  a  stand- 
ard he  cannot  understand  and  emphasizes  "working  for 
marks"  as  against  working  to  do  his  cooperative  part  in 
the  daily  tasks  assigned  to  his  classmates.  When  class 
progress  depends  upon  the  class  average,  there  is  an  urge 
that  every  normal  boy  feels  to  avoid  being  the  cause  of 
his  classmates'  retardation  by  falling  behind  the  group. 
Just  as  in  the  Great  War,  our  boys  proudly  "walked 
their  legs  off"  rather  than  lose  their  place  in  their  march- 
ing company,  so  our  smaller  boys  in  school  will  usually 
put  new  effort  and  energy  into  their  school  work  rather 
than  be  left  behind  by  the  average  group  of  their  advanc- 
ing classmates.  Surely  this  desire  to  "keep  up  with  the 
procession"  will  be  a  more  worthy  motive  for  effort  than 


RELATIVE   RATINGS   AND   REPORT   CARDS     321 

"working  for  marks"  might  have  been  under  the  older 
system. 

Again,  it  may  be  claimed  that  relative  rating  is  unethi- 
cal in  that  it  makes  it  possible  for  one  pupil  to  gain  by 
pulling  down  another.  While  this  is  unquestionably 
theoretically  true,  I  have  seen  no  sign  of  it  in  four  years 
of  study  of  relative  rating;  that  we  might  expect  to  find 
some  signs  of  it  is  wholly  reasonable,  but  certainly  it  is 
hard  to  find  such  an  attitude  either  in  the  pupils'  prepara- 
tion of  their  home  lessons,  or  in  their  recitations  in  the 
classroom.  Undoubtedly,  there  are  some  depraved  pupils 
in  every  large  group  who  would  not  hesitate  to  advance 
themselves  by  hastening  another's  failure,  but  in  the  nor- 
mal healthy  group  of  an  average  public  school,  boys  have 
too  much  respect  for  the  power  of  public  opinion  as 
evidenced  by  their  classmates  to  make  any  such  despic- 
able attempts.  On  the  contrary,  if  there  is  any  deviation 
from  the  customary  attitude  toward  school  ratings,  it 
comes  from  a  feeling  on  the  part  of  the  very  great  ma- 
jority of  co-partnership  in  the  progress  of  the  class. 
Whereas  before,  "the  class  work"  went  on  whether  pupils 
failed  or  passed  and  no  pupil  or  group  of  pupils  could  put 
up 'his  hand  to  arrest  this  work  in  its  inevitable  progress 
toward  "a  month's  work"  or  "a  term's  work"  or  "a  year's 
work,"  now  we  have  something  that  is  measured  by  what 
the  average  of  the  class  can  do,  and  so  each  pupil  assumes 
a  certain  share  of  responsibility  in  measuring  the  rate  of 
progress  of  his  classmates. 

Lei  us  frankly  admit  that  there  are  classes  here  and 
there  that,  by  a  process  of  intellectual  sabotage  may 
strive  t<>  delay  their  work  unduly  at  certain  times,  so  that 
to  be  an  average  pupil  is  more  easy  than  it  would  have 
been  if  all  had  worked  sincerely.  These  classes  furnish  a 
real  problem,  that   for  the  present  seems  to   have   no 


322  THE  JUNIOR   HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

better  solution  than  the  planning  of  more  interesting 
daily  work  and  the  securing  of  better  parental  cooper- 
ation with  the  subject-teachers. 

Yet  for  the  sake  of  these  isolated  classes,  we  would  not 
give  up  the  many  unquestioned  benefits  secured  by  the 
new  system  of  pupils'  marks,  any  more  than  we  would 
restrict  the  advantages  open  to  all  normal  citizens  be- 
cause a  few  are  criminal  insane. 

Moreover,  this  form  of  relative  rating  is  so  simple 
when  once  thoroughly  understood  that  it  lends  itself  to 
other  uses  than  that  of  the  periodic  report  to  parents. 
I  have  seen,  for  example,  a  class  of  pupils  in  English 
Literature  so  well  trained  in  estimating  their  own  and 
their  fellow's  relative  ratings  that  in  more  than  nine 
cases  in  every  ten,  neither  the  teacher  nor  I  could  im- 
prove on  them.  In  such  a  class  it  was  the  custom  oc- 
casionally to  hold  a  review  recitation  where  each  pupil 
was  called  upon  to  answer  a  definite  question  chosen  from 
a  carefully  prepared  list  of  questions,  approximately 
equal  in  difficulty.  After  each  uninterrupted  answer,  the 
class  was  called  upon  to  vote  by  a  show  of  hands  into 
which  of  the  five  groups  —  Excellent,  Above  Average, 
Average,  Below  Average,  or  Failing,  the  pupil  should 
be  placed.  As  I  have  already  indicated,  the  majority  of 
the  class  almost  never  made  an  incorrect  judgment. 
While  such  class  ratings  were  never  accepted  as  absolute, 
the  very  experience  in  rating  was  of  great  value  to  the  pu- 
pils who  did  the  rating,  as  well  as  to  the  one  or  two  pupils 
among  those  rated  who  were  habitually  inclined  to  appeal 
from  the  teacher's  ratings  as  unjust  and  unfair. 

Indeed,  I  would  unhesitatingly  recommend  that  some 
recitations  in  every  subject  be  devoted  to  training  pu- 
pils to  estimate  their  own  relative  success  in  the  work 
at  hand.     The  pupils  may  be  trained  to  see  that  they 


RELATIVE   RATINGS   AND   REPORT   CARDS     323 

cannot  improve  their  own  ratings  by  over-valuing  them, 
but  rather  may  lower  them  by  showing  a  poor  apprecia- 
tion of  their  relation  to  such  an  answer  as  the  average 
pupil  in  the  class  might  be  expected  to  give.  This  better 
knowledge  of  relative  values  may  and  does  serve  to 
awaken  to  the  realities  many  a  pupil  who  was  formerly 
self-satisfied,  though  doing  below  average,  or  still  poorer 
work. 

A  reproduction  of  the  report-card  used  at  Speyer  School 
is  appended  for  those  who  care  to  study  it. 


324 


THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 


[front] 


REPORT  OF_ 
ADDRESS 


CLASS 

CI.  Teacher 

£>peper  experimental  Hunioc  ^ifff)  ^cfjool 

SUPPLEMENTARY  REPORT  CARD 

CHARACTER 

i 

ii 

in 

IV 

V 

VI 

V    11 

VIII 

PREPARATION  OF  HOME  STUDIES 

ATTENTION  IN  CLASS 

HONOR  —  RELIABILITY 

CONDUCT  —  MANNERS 

CONDUCT  —  SELF-CONTROL 

CARE  OF  PROPERTY 

SERVICE  —  SCHOOL  SPKIT 

— 

— 

— 

EVIDENCE  OF  LEADERSHIP 

NUTRITION 

STUDIES 

— 

ENGLISH  (Literature,  Composition) 

MATHEMATICS',  Arith.,Geom.,Algeb.) 

FRENCH 

NATURAL  SCIENCE  (Biol.,  Gen.  Sci.) 

— 

SOCIAL  STUDIES  (Hist.,  Geog.,  Civics) 

— 

PHYSICAL  TRAINING  —  HYGIENE 

ART 

MUSIC 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

TYPEWRITING 

BOOKKEEPING 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

SYMBOLS  FOR  RATINGS 
Highest  Rating  1,  Means  Excellent 
Second        "        2,        "      Above  AveTage 
Third  "        3,        "      Average 

Fourth        "        4,        "      Below  Average 
Fifth  "        5,        "      Failing 


RELATIVE   RATINGS   AND   REPORT   CARDS     325 

[reverse] 
REPORT  TO  THE  PARENT  OF 


^Department  ot  education,  Citp  of  jpeto  gocfe 

iSpcper  (Experimental  Junior  fyitzb  School 

(ANNEX  OF  P.  S.  43,  MANHATTAN) 

94  LAWRENCE  STREET 

NEW  YORK  CITY 

Joseph  K.  Van  Denburg,  principal 

Dear  Sir: 

The  pupils  of  Speyer  School  are  arranged  in  classes  according  to  ability. 
In  the Grade,  there  are classes. 

The  marks  assigned  in  the  several  subjects  show  the  pupil's  standing  in  his 
class,  and  indicate  achievement  and  ability  to  proceed  with  the  work  of  that  class. 

SPEYER  SCHOOL  aims  to  prepare  exceptionally  bright  and  industrious 
pupils  for  advanced  standing  in  the  High  Schools.  Each  pupil  has  the  oppor- 
tunity of  completing  three  years' work  in  two  years.  Mere  attendance  at  Speyer 
School  does  not  insure  this  saving  of  time.  The  opportunity  is  open  to  every 
industrious  pupil;  but  no  guarantee  is  given  that  the  pupil  will  save  a  year  through 
mere  attendance  at  SPEYER  SCHOOL. 

Only  those  pupils  who  show  average,  or  higher,  ability  in  Classes  1  and  2,  or 
above  average  in  Class  3  of  this  grade  may  be  considered  as  showing  promise  of 
entering  the  Second  Year  of  High  School. 

Regularity  in  attendance,  attention  to  class-room  instruction  and  faithfulness 
in  home  study,  are  essential  to  successful  achievement.  Neither  social  engagements 
nor  employment  should  prevent  the  pupil  from  giving  at  least  one  and  one  half 
hours'  attention  each  day  to  home  study. 

The  health  of  the  pupil  is  to  be  conserved  through  outdoor  exercise,  plain, 
nourishing  food  and  plenty  of  sleep. 

Very'  truly, 

Joseph  K.  Van  Denburg. 
Sample  Signature: 


I  have  carefully  studied  : 

11  the  ratings 

given  on  the  other  side  of  this  report  card 

DATE 

i  oAsa 

DAYS   ABSENT 

TIMES  LATE 

PARENT  OK  OTJARDIAN 

I 

II 

III 

IV 

v 

VI 

VII 

VIII 

326  THE  JUNIOR   HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

QUESTIONS 

1.  Of  what  value  should  a  pupil's  marks  be  to  the  pupil's 

parent? 

2.  Of  what  use  should  these  marks  be  to  the  pupil  himself? 

3.  What  factors  make  the  usual  school  mark  very  unreliable? 

4.  Why  are  hair-splitting  ratings  useless? 

5.  When  may  a  rating  of  60%   show  a  high  standard  of 

achievement  ? 

6.  When  may  a  rating  of  80%  show  a  low  standard  of  achieve- 

ment? 

7.  What  is  the  value  to  a  pupil  and  to  a  parent  of  showing 

"how  the  pupil  is  keeping  up  with  his  class?" 

8.  What  unfair  use  is  sometimes  made  of  school  ratings? 

9.  Why  is  a  system  of  relative  rating  the  most  accurate  and  the 

most  honest  system  available? 

10.  What  should  be  the  usual  distribution  of  relative  ratings  in 

a  class  of  34  pupils?    Of  24  pupils?    Of  40  pupils? 

11.  Plan  a  model  report  card. 


CHAPTER  XIX 
PUPIL   SELF-GOVERNMENT 

Experiments  in  the  self-government  of  adolescents  we 
know  to  be  as  old  as  ancient  Greece  where  the  youth  were 
encouraged  to  prepare  themselves,  through  membership 
in  the  Epheboi,  for  self-government  among  themselves, 
as  a  preparation  for  not  far  distant  citizenship.  From 
then  until  now,  there  have  been  here  and  there  more  or 
less  sustained  efforts  to  provide  some  means  by  which 
pupils  still  in  school  might  be  given  some  experience  in 
governing  themselves,  both  as  an  aid  to  the  development 
of  their  own  moral  character  at  the  time  and  as  a  prepa- 
ration for  a  more  intelligent  and  fair  minded  citizenship 
when  they  have  arrived  at  their  maturity. 

So  far  as  recent  experiments  have  been  concerned  the 
success  of  all  our  American  efforts  appear  to  have  been 
indissolubly  bound  up  in  the  personality  of  some  one 
man  or  woman  who  by  virtue  of  his  or  her  personal 
magnetism,  judgment,  tact  and  enthusiasm  was  able  to 
put  in  operation  a  plan  of  self-government  that  appeared 
to  succeed  so  long  as  this  one  controlling  personal  force 
was  quietly,  but  powerfully  exerted  upon  the  pupils  who 
were  trying  the  experiment. 

We  have  most  of  us  seen  in  recent  years  more  or 
less  elaborate  School  Cities  in  operation,  working 
smoothly  and  efficiently  to  the  evident  delight  of  both  pu- 
pils and  teachers.  We  have  also,  most  of  us,  seen  these 
School  cities  collapse  as  a  pricked  bubble  when  the  power 
behind  the  throne  was  for  any  reason  withdrawn. 

327 


328  THE  JUNIOR   HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

The  valid  criticism  of  many  who  refuse  to  put  in 
operation  any  system  of  pupil  self-government  is  that 
all  such  systems  are  more  or  less  patent  frauds  perpe- 
trated upon  more  or  less  unsuspecting  pupils.  Such  crit- 
ics hold  truly  that  if  it  ever  comes  to  a  show-down  the  pu- 
pils must  learn  that  they  cannot  in  honesty  and  in  truth 
be  permitted  to  govern  themselves. 

(The  more  elaborate  the  system  of  self-government  the 
more  complete  is  apt  to  be  its  collapse,  when,  sooner  or 
later,  a  case  appears  where  the  will  of  the  pupils  as  ex- 
pressed by  their  elected  representatives  comes  directly 
into  opposition  with  the  will  of  the  principal,  his  teachers 
or  the  higher  school  authorities,  y 

And  yet  every  one  who  has  the  complete  education  of 
adolescents  at  heart  is  either  secretly  or  openly  searching 
for  some  plan  of  self-government  that  will  endure  the 
test  of  time  and  prove  its  fitness  to  survive  even  when 
the  single  personality  that  puts  it  in  successful  operation 
is  withdrawn.  So  far  as  we  know  there  has  been  no  plan 
yet  devised  which  has  proved  its  complete  adaptability 
under  all  conditions  of  stress  and  strain  and  yet  in  very 
recent  years  notable  advances  have  been  made  in  the 
self-government  of  adolescents. 

( We  will  all  agree  that  self-imposed  kleals  of  conduct 
are  the  only  ones  of  permanent  value.  XTo  be  sure,  the 
youth  who  has  had  instilled  into  his  mind  and  heart 
a  fear  of  breaking  the  law  of  his  school  or  of  his  com- 
munity may  be  on  the  road  to  a  highly  moral  citizen- 
ship. The  fear  of  God  is  the  beginning  of  wisdom  and 
the  genuine  fear  of  wrong-doing  while  yet  it  may  be 
only  a  fear  of  punishment,  still  often  serves  to  keep 
the  possible  offender  in  the  paths  which  society  has 
laid  down  for  him.  If  we  may  begin  with  the  fear-  of  God 
as  a  deterrent  from  moral  delinquency  and  lead  from  that 


PUPIL  SELF-GOVERNMENT  329 

to  the  love  of  God  as  a  basis  for  compliance  with  the 
laws  our  fellows  make  for  us,  then  we  may  reach  the 
true  goal  of  moral  training.  However,  if  we  both 
begin  and  end  with  fear  as  a  deterrent,  sooner  or  later 
the  fear  may  be  outgrown  and  there  is  nothing  left 
except  such  habits  of  rectitude  as  may  survive  when 
the  fear  of  punishment  is  withdrawn. 

In  school  we  have  had,  and  still  have,  the  fear  of  the 
teacher,  and  when  the  teacher  fails  the  fear  of  that  dread 
person,  the  principal,  as  a  deterrent  to  frighten  into  sub- 
mission the  possible  offender.  In  school  we  also  have  the 
love  of  the  teacher  and  perhaps  even  the  love  of  the  prin- 
cipal serving  to  make  the  pupils  eager  to  win  and  hold 
that  love  by  abstaining  from  any  action  which  might  give 
the  teacher  or  the  principal  disquietude  or  sorrow. 

In  school  we  do  find,  though  more  rarely,  pupils  who 
are  striving  to  do  the  right  thing  and  to  avoid  the  wrong 
thing  because  they  are  controlled  by  self-imposed  ideals 
of  conduct  which  serve  by  acting  upon  their  own  self- 
respect  to  make  them  honestly  eager  to  do  the  right 
thing  at  all  times  whether  observed  or  not.  However 
rare  may  be  the  cases  of  pupils  who  at  all  times  and  under 
all  circumstances  act  in  compliance  with  such  high  mo- 
tives, still  no  plan  of  self-government  will  succeed  which 
does  not  assume  the  possibility  of  such  an  ultimate  con- 
dition for  all  the  pupils  of  any  school.  And  yet  any  plan 
which  assumes  the  probability  of  any  such  conditions  be- 
coming general,  is  even  more  surely  doomed  to  failure. 

If,  without  binding  ourselves  to  the  acceptance  of  any 
theory,  we  merely  assume  that  our  pupils  resemble  in 
the  adolescent  strivings  toward  self-government  a  type 
not  far  different  on  the  whole  from  the  members  of  some 
partially  civilized  race,  we  may  be  nearer  a  solution  of 
our  difficulties  than  if  we  assume  them  to  be  little  twcnti- 


330  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

eth  century  citizens  awaiting  only  the  necessary  years  for 
complete  absorption  into  our  present-day  civilization. 

A  plan  which  assumes  only  the  possibilities  of  growth 
to  a  fully  civilized  state  has  at  least  the  merit  of  not  ex- 
pecting much  of  its  young  members,  while  on  the  other 
hand,  a  plan  which  endeavors  to  force  the  forms  of 
adult  self-government  upon  immature  adolescents  is  apt 
to  meet  with  no  more  success  than  would  accompany 
an  attempt  to  put  any  half-civilized  race  upon  a  truly 
modern  representative  self-governing  basis. 

Other  things  being  equal,  those  plans  of  government 
which  in  the  evolution  of  civilization  have  proved  their 
fitness  for  the  partially  civilized,  may  on  the  whole 
most  nearly  approach  our  adolescent  needs.  The  recap- 
itulation theory  may  be  abandoned,  but  from  it  we  may 
still  salvage  much  to  help  us  here,  for  surely  there  is  a 
parallelism  between  the  savage  and  the  adolescent, 
whether  or  not  it  be  purely  accidental. 

Through  the  possession  of  some  special  qualifica- 
tions of  strength  and  skill  and  insight  the  savage 
leader  first  gains  his  position  of  authority;  later 
his  descendants  by  physical,  mental  and  material 
inheritance  may  establish  an  hereditary  monarchy  of 
small  or  great  proportions,  but  at  the  beginning  there 
is  no  line  of  succession  and  the  field  is  open  to 
any  man  who  can  lead.  This  leader  shows  in  his 
person  and  in  his  conduct  traits  of  character  to  which  all 
the  tribe  aspire,  but  which  on  the  whole  they  as  indivi- 
duals do  not  personally  possess.  Possibly  without  formal 
choice  or  election  the  man  who  most  nearly  represents  in 
his  person  the  aspirations  of  the  tribe  or  clan  becomes  at 
first  informally  the  leader  of  the  group. 

/So  in  the  voluntary  associations  of  modern  adoles- 
cents the  youth  who  most  nearly  represents  the  kind 


PUPIL   SELF-GOVERNMENT  331 

of  fellow  that  all  would  like  to  be,  becomes  without  any- 
formal  election,  the  acknowledged  leader  of  his  coterie  of 
friends. )  When  the  aspirations  of  the  group  are  toward 
crime,  as  they  unfortunately  sometimes  are,  the  gang 
leader  is  he  who  most  nearly  represents  the  daring  crim- 
inal that  each  of  the  group  earnestly  desires  to  become. 
When  on  the  other  hand,  the  aspirations  of  the  group  are 
toward  the  highest  ethical  development  that  their  racial 
progress  makes  possible,  their  leader  will  be  one  who 
most  nearly  in  his  person  embodies  the  aspirations  of  this 
rapidly  developing  group. 

The  aspirations  of  boys  and  girls  of  junior  high  school 
age,  are  but  slowly  developing  toward  unselfish  and 
altruistic  ideals.  The  normal  youngster  of  ten  or 
eleven  is  in  many  ways  remarkably  like  a  savage  and  not 
a  high-grade  savage  at  that,  however  lovable  individu- 
ally he  may  actually  be.  As  a  candidate  for  self- 
government  he  is  infinitely  inferior  to  a  wild  tribesman 
of  the  Congo.  Any  form  of  city  or  state  government  by 
ten-year-olds  is  simply  unthinkable,  and  yet  it  is  upon 
children  not  much  higher  that  we  of  the  junior  high 
school  must  build  our  rudimentary  beginnings. 

The  first  step  toward  self-government,  if  our  cursory 
review  has  led  us  correctly,  is  the  gradual  establishment 
of  a  unity  of  aspiration  in  the  minds  of  our  pupils.  Here 
we  may  later  seek  to  implant  other  ideals  which  we  hope 
for,  but  we  must  build  our  work  upon  aspirations  that 
normally  and  really  exist  in  the  minds  of  a  majority 
of  healthy  youngsters  of  adolescent  age. 

Not  long  ago  a  considerable  cash  prize  was  offered 
for  the  most  normal  and  natural  code  for  boys  of  ado- 
lescent age.  The  winner's  code  was  published  and  was 
found  to  agree  in  almost  every  detail  with  the  laws  of 
the  Boy  Scouts  of  America  (and  of  the  World) .    Probably 


332  THE  JUNIOR   HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

no  better  code  of  boy-morals  exists  than  that  of  the 
Boy  Scouts. 

A  plan  that  has  been  tried  and  found  successful  has 
for  its  fundamental  basis  the  Boy  Scouts  Laws.  This 
is  the  body  of  aspiration  which  the  school  endeavors 
to  build  upon  and  to  use  in  creating  the  growth  toward 
self-government.  This  plan  of  self-government  in  its 
inception  makes  the  entire  school  a  modified  and 
adapted  Boy  Scout  troop.  It  selects  for  leaders  (a  most 
coveted  and  eagerly  sought-after  honor)  those  boys  who 
in  their  person,  in  the  judgment  of  teacher  and  pupil, 
most  nearly  approximate  the  description  of  an  ideal 
Boy  Scout  as  stated  in  their  creed. 

Such  a  creed  when  adapted  for  the  use  of  the  school 
may  read  as  follows: 

The  Speyer  Creed  (as  adopted  unanimously  by  the 
boys  of  Speyer  School) : 

1.  A  Speyer  Boy  is  Trustworthy 

His  honor  is  to  be  trusted.  If  he  were  to  violate  his 
honor  by  telling  a  lie,  or  by  cheating,  or  by  not  doing 
exactty  a  given  task,  when  trusted  on  his  honor,  he  is 
not  a  real  Speyer  boy. 

2.  A  Speyer  boy  is  Loyal 

He  is  loyal  to  all  to  whom  loyalty  is  due  —  his  teacher, 
his  home,  his  parents,  his  country. 

3.  A  Speyer  boy  is  Helpful 

He  is  ready  to  help  persons  in  need  at  any  time,  to  share 
the  duties  of  home  and  school.  He  does  one  good  turn 
to  somebody  every  day. 

4.  A  Speyer  boy  is  Friendly 

He  is  a  friend  to  all  and  a  brother  to  every  other  Speyer 
boy. 

5.  A  Speyer  boy  is  Courteous 

He  is  polite  to  all,  especially  to  women,  children,  old 
people  and  the  weak  and  helpless. 

6.  A  Speyer  boy  is  Respectful 


PUPIL   SELF-GOVERNMENT  333 

He  respects  and  obeys  his  parents,  teachers,  leaders  and 
all  other  duly  constituted  authorities.  He  respects 
the  convictions  of  others  in  matters  of  custom  and  re- 
ligion. 

7.  A  Speyer  boy  is  Cheerful 

He  smiles  whenever  he  can.  His  obedience  to  orders 
is  prompt  and  cheerful.  The  harder  the  task  the  glad- 
der his  heart ! 

S.  A  Speyer  boy  is  Thrifty 

He  does  not  destroy  property.  He  works  faithfully, 
wastes  nothing,  and  makes  the  best  use  of  his  oppor- 
tunities. He  saves  his  money  so  that  he  may  pay  his 
own  way,  be  generous  to  those  in  need  and  helpful  to 
worthy    objects. 

9.  A  Speyer  boy  is  Brave 

He  has  the  courage  to  face  danger  in  spite  of  fear,  and 
to  stand  up  for  what  is  right  against  the  coaxings  of 
friends  or  the  jeers  or  threats  of  his   opponents  and 
defeat  does  not  down  him. 
10.  A  Speyer  boy  is  Clean 

He  keeps  clean  in  body  and  thought,  stands  for  clean 
speech,  clean  sport,  clean  habits  and  travels  with  a 
clean  crowd. 

No  attempt  can  profitably  be  made  to  introduce  all 
these  ten  desirable  ideals  at  one  time;  indeed  their  origi- 
nal adoption  took  nearly  an  entire  school  year.  One  by 
one  the  various  ideal  traits  were  developed  by  the  boys 
themselves  and  only  seized  upon  for  discussion  and  later 
adoption  when  presented  by  the  boys  acting  on  their  own 
initiative. 

Once  formulated,  however,  the  whole  influence  of  the 
school  —  principal,  teachers,  parents,  graduates,  upper 
class  boys  —  is  brought  to  bear  upon  each  new  entering 
group  as  it  is  admitted.  From  the  very  start  the  new- 
comer is  made  to  feel  that  he  is  being  admitted  to  a  group 
where  the  older  and  wiser  fellows  have  laid  out  an  ideal 
for  themselves  which  he  as  a  new  comer  is  bound  to 
study  and  to  gradually  adopt. 


334  THE  JUNIOR  HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

If  a  school  is  to  avoid  being  kept  at  work  forever 
building  up  an  ideal  which  never  reaches  a  stage  where 
it  functions  in  the  development  of  leaders,  it  must  make 
sure  that  no  end  of  pains  be  spent  in  soon  converting 
each  new  entering  group  to  the  ideals  of  their  older  school- 
mates. To  that  end  a  strong  and  powerful  school  tradi- 
tion must  be  built  up  so  that  boys  even  before  they  enter 
will  learn  something  of  the  ideals  of  the  school  of  which 
they  may  become  a  part.  Once  the  new  comers  are 
enrolled,  a  series  of  meetings  is  held  at  which  the  boys 
will  be  told  not  by  teachers,,  but  by  chosen  leaders 
among  the  older  boys  themselves,  what  the  school  creed 
is  and  how  it  came  to  be  adopted.  No  end  of  trouble 
can  be  created  by  the  over-zealous  teacher  who  seeks  to 
impose  as  his  own  the  ideals  which  the  boys  have 
adopted.  The  teacher's  part  is  to  give  the  older  pupils 
such  frequent  opportunity  as  may  be  needed  to  put  over 
the  deals  they  believe  to  be  the  worthy  ones  for  all  the 
school.  Thus  from  the  start  the  body  of  aspirations 
which  we  hope  the  new  comers  will  adopt  as  their  own, 
comes  to  them  from  one  of  their  own  kind,  only  one 
presumably  older  and  wiser  than  they  are. 

The  teacher  must  never  be  led  into  an  argument  on  the 
school  ideals  in  which  he  is  put  in  the  position  of  defend- 
ing the  ideals  the  school  has  chosen.  If  there  are  ob- 
jections raised  —  and  indeed  they  may  be  welcomed  at 
the  start  —  not  the  teacher,  but  a  duly  recognized  boy- 
leader  from  the  upper  classes  is  the  proper  one  to  answer 
the  objector.  The  teacher  merely  arranges  the  time  and 
place  for  the  necessary  explanation.  The  teacher's  po- 
sition may  be  put  in  words  as  follows: 

"The  older  boys  of  the  school  have  selected  for  themselves 
certain  ideals  (and  I  know  them  by  heart)  which  they  think  the 
best  possible  for  all  of  us.    As  a  teacher  of  this  school  I  am  in 


PUPIL   SELF-GOVERNMENT  335 

honor  bound  to  these  boys  to  help  them  realize  their  own  ideals, 
but  for  you  new  comers'  who  have  not  subscribed  to  these  ideals 
as  yet,  I  can  do  nothing  more  than  to  give  you  the  oppor- 
tunity of  hearing  the  older  boys  tell  you  why  they  have  unan- 
imously adopted  these  ideals  for  this  school." 

The  teacher's  other  opportunity  for  advancing  the 
school  ideals  comes  in  his  selection  of  boys  for  various 
minor  posts  of  honor  who  (in  so  far  as  he  can  discover 
the  truth)  appear  to  approximate  in  their  behavior  the 
ideals  for  which  the  school-body  stands. 

Leadership 

Closely  connected  writh  the  school  Creed  is  the  matter 
of  leadership  which  is  the  one  test  of  the  success  of  the 
self-government  plan. 

If  the  boys  select  for  their  leaders  those  who  will  dis- 
charge their  duties  in  the  spirit  of  the  Creed  then  every- 
thing possible  has  been  accomplished.  To  safeguard  the 
interests  of  the  school  each  class  teacher  is  given  the 
right  (which  the  wise  teacher  will  rarely  use)  of  suspend- 
ing from  office  at  once  any  leader  whose  actions  seem  to 
endanger  the  welfare  of  the  class.  Mere  weakness,  how- 
ever, should  rarely  be  a  cause  of  suspension  —  not  at 
least  until  the  teacher  has  tried  by  every  means  at  his 
disposal  to  develop  the  weak  leader's  highest  possibilities 
of  strength.  If  finally  all  efforts  of  the  teacher  fail  to 
develop  in  the  weak  leader  the  qualities  necessary  for 
his  success,  the  teacher  may  bring  the  matter  to  the  atten- 
tion of  the  class  and  ask  the  election  of  a  new  leader.  In 
possibly  ninety-nine  cases  out  of  a  hundred  the  class  will 
elect  a  new  and  stronger  leader,  but  in  the  hundredth  case 
the  class  may  support  the  weak  leader.  In  such  a  case 
the  teacher  may  suspend  the  leader  and  report  his  reasons 
to  the  Leaders'  Club  where  the  better  judgment  of  the 
selected  group  can  be  trusted. 


336  THE  JUNIOR   HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

Experience  shows  that  no  teacher  worthy  of  his  po- 
sition in  the  school  will  ever  fail  of  practically  unani- 
mous support  in  the  Leaders'  Club  save  in  the  one  pos- 
sibility of  his  actually  being  grossly  in  the  wrong.  In 
such  a  case  we  will  all  agree  that  he  does  not  deserve 
and  should  not  receive  support  from  any  source. 

Before  we  discuss  the  Leaders'  Club  —  the  heart  and 
soul  of  a  self-governing  adolescent  school  —  we  may 
briefly  consider  some  of  the  leaders  that  a  class  may  well 
select  —  and  the  duties  with  which  these  leaders  may  be 
charged. 

But  as  we  begin  it  is  well  to  note  that  the  teacher,  while 
he  does  not  participate  in  the  elections,  can  strongly 
influence  the  elections  for  good  by  describing  rather 
carefully  the  type  of  boy  that  in  his  opinion  will  best 
serve  the  class  if  elected  to  the  position  in  question. 

For  the  following  partial  list  of  leaders  I  am  indebted 
to  Mr.  Abraham  Rosenthal  and  to  Miss  Bertha  Luchs 
who.  with  others  at  Speyer  School,  first  worked  out  the 
positions  and  duties  hereinafter  described. 


Positions 

Boys 

1.  Class  Leaders 

2 

2.  Attendance  Leaders 

2 

3.  Home-work  Leaders 

9 

4.  Text -book  Leaders 

2 

5.  Room  Leaders 

2 

6.  Blackboard  Leaders 

2 

7.  Bulletin  Leaders 

2 

8.  Decoration  Leaders 

2 

9.  Coat  Room  Leaders 

2 

10.  Two-minute  Drill  Leaders 

2 

11.  Health  Leaders 

2 

12.  Excursion  Leaders 

2 

13.  Lunch  Room  Leaders 

(number  variable) 

14.  Hall  Leaders 

>> 

15.  Reception  Leaders 

2 

PUPIL  SELF-GOVERNMENT  337 

To  Develop  and  Encourage  the  Growth  of  all 

Leaders 

The  best  leader  knows  the  "Speyer  Creed,"  lives  it, 
practices  it  and  fights  for  it.  He  constantly  emphasizes 
the  importance  of  adhering  to  all  that  the  Creed  stands 
for.  (Therefore  the  leader  must  know  his  Creed  and 
understand  it.  The  teacher  must  also  know  and  under- 
stand it.) 

The  real  leader  is  natural.  He  is  at  all  times  friendly, 
courteous,  kind  and  respectful.  "To  help  in  advancing 
others"  is  his  motto. 

The  thoughtful  leader  prepares  his  program  of  activi- 
ties beforehand,  so  that  he  may  at  all  times  keep  his  class 
actively  interested.  He  sees  that  no  boy  is  wasting  his 
time. 

The  resourceful  leader  meets  the  situation.  He  does 
not  wait  to  be  told  what  to  do.  An  unforeseen  situation 
is  but  another  opportunity  for  testing  his  ability. 

The  helpful  leader  notices  everything  of  interest  to  his 
fellows.  He  makes  his  class  aware  of  what  others 
are  doing  for  the  school  welfare. 

The  able  leader  commands  in  a  firm,  distinct,  "mean- 
what-I-say"  tone.  His  orders  indicate  just  what  he 
wishes  done.  He  sees  that  any  orders  that  are  given  are 
carried  out. 

The  wise  leader  is  alert  for  suggestions  that  might  im- 
prove his  work.  He  often  reviews  progress  made.  He 
does  not  forget  to  thank  those  who  have  helped  him. 

The  successful  leader  makes  every  fellow  count  as  a 
link  in  the  claim  of  his  success.  Only  those  fellows  that 
demonstrate  self-control,  courage,  clean-mindedness  and 
practice  of  the  Speyer  Creed,  are  strong  enough  to  be  one 


338  THE  JUNIOR   HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

of  his  links.  A  weak  link  endangers  his  whole  chain. 
Therefore  he  strives  to  bring  every  one  in  his  class  into 
earnest,  active  cooperation. 

1.    THE   CLASS   LEADER    (AND   VICE-LEADER) 

1.  At  no  time  does  the  class  leader's  responsibility 
cease.  He  looks  after  the  appointed  leaders  to  see  that 
each  checks  up  his  responsibility.  He  has  the  right  to 
appoint  assistants  to  help  him  in  his  work. 

2.  It  is  understood  that  the  leader  when  not  working 
actively  falls  in  line  with  the  rest  of  the  class  thus  set- 
ting an  example  of  cooperation.  He  is  under  the  full 
authority  of  the  leader  in  charge  whether  it  be  in  class, 
on  excursions,  or  at  assembly. 

3.  At  the  class  meeting  each  leader  reports  upon  his 
work  so  as  to  give  the  group  the  opportunity  to  suggest 
whatever  may  strengthen  the  cooperative  spirit  and  sense 
of  responsibility  of  the  class. 

4.  The  president,  who  is  the  chief  class  leader  calls  a 
Class  Leaders  Meeting,  under  the  supervision  of  the 
official  teacher,  once  every  fortnight  for  the  purpose  of 
checking  up  the  individual  leader  in  his  attitude  toward 
the  responsibility  he  has  undertaken.  The  purpose  of 
this  meeting  is  also,  through  the  help  of  the  leaders,  to 
strengthen  the  authority  of  the  chief  leader,  and  if  need 
be,  to  point  out  and  eliminate  weaknesses,  that  he  may 
have  developed. 

2.   ATTENDANCE  LEADERS 

1.  Fill  in  attendance  and  absence  on  blackboard  be- 
fore 9  a.  m.  and  before  1  p.  m. 

2.  Rule  up  the  section  board  according  to  a  definite 
form. 


PUPIL  SELF-GOVERNMENT  339 

3.  Fill  in  the  day's  record  in  the  Section  Book. 

4.  Carry  the  Section  Book  from  class  to  class. 

5.  Place  it  on  the  teacher's  desk  when  class  enters 
the  room  for  period. 

6.  Give  it  to  official  teacher  at  noon  and  at  3  p.  m. 

7.  Take  minutes   of   class   meetings   and   report  at 
next  meeting. 

8.  Take  minutes  of  Leaders  Meetings  and  report  to 
class  at  its  own  class  meeting,  the  work  done. 


3.    HOME  WORK  LEADERS 

1.  Keep  home  work. 

2.  Examine  and  check  up  in  book  or  chart  the  home 
work  of  each  pupil. 

3.  Find  out  why  the  pupil  has  not  done  work. 

4.  Rouse  student  who  fails  to  bring  in  work  to  do 
better  next  time. 

5.  Keep  list  of  class  in  book  or  chart. 

6.  At  class  meetings  report  to  class  any  boy  who  has 
failed  to  do  his  home-work  twice  in  succession  and  also 
pupils  having  excellent  records. 


4.    TEXT  BOOK  LEADERS 

1.  Keep  a  list  of  class  on  book  or  chart. 

2.  Check  up  the  number  of  books  that  are  brought 
to  school  —  put  cross  against  those  pupils  who  fail  to 
do  this. 

3.  Check  up  books  that  have  been  recovered  —  put 
cross  against  those  who  have  not  recovered  lost  books. 

4.  Check  up  books  that  are  labelled,  cross  those  that 
are  not. 


340  THE  JUNIOR   HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

5.  Report  at  class  meeting  any  pupil  who  has  failed 
to  live  up  to  his  duty  twice  in  succession  as  well  as  those 
who  have  excellent  records  in  care  of  books. 

6.  Report  to  class  leader  at  end  of  month  the  record 
of  each  student  in  this  respect.  This  report  is  to  be 
made  under  the  heading  of  responsibility. 

7.  Give  credit  to  those  pupils  who  use  other  helpful 
books  in  addition  to  the  regular  text-books. 

8.  Determine  in  what  ways  another  text-book  that  is 
used,  whether  borrowed  from  the  library  or  from  a 
friend,  is  better  than  the  one  used  at  school. 

5.    ROOM   LEADERS 

1.  Make  a  list  of  students  that  sit  in  their  section. 

2.  At  noon  and  three  o'clock  examine  the  aisles 
and  desks  of  sections  to  see  that  desks  contain  no  paper 
and  that  floor  is  clean. 

3.  Check  up  pupils  who  have  clean  desks  and  cross 
those  that  have  not. 

4.  At  class  meetings  give  report  on  those  that  have 
excellent  records  and  those  who  have  twice  failed  to  clean 
up. 

5.  Try  to  raise  class  standard  of  neatness  —  praise 
the  excellent  students  and  encourage  them  to  do  better. 

6.    BLACKBOARD    LEADERS 

1.  Wash  boards  at  noon  and  at  three  o'clock. 

2.  Clean  board  rubbers  at  noon  and  at  three. 

3.  Put  chalk  and  board  rubbers  away  at  noon  and 
at  three. 

4.  Erase  whatever  is  on  the  board  at  end  of  period 
unless  teacher  wishes  otherwise. 


PUPIL  SELF-GOVERNMENT  341 

7.    BULLETIN    LEADERS 

1.  Provide  a  suitable  bulletin  board. 

2.  Collect  material  to  be  posted. 

3.  See  that  whatever  is  put  on  the  bulletin  board  is  in 
good  form  (well  written,  clean  and  worth  while). 

4.  See  that  as  soon  as  bulletin  has  lost  its  usefulness, 
it  is  removed  from  the  board. 

5.  Make  out  all  reports  of  class  that  are  to  be  posted 
on  walls  of  class  room. 

8.    DECORATION    LEADERS 

1.  Arrange  all  pictures,  engravings,  banners,  plants, 
etc.,  neatly  in  simple  manner  and  pleasing  to  the  eye. 

2.  Encourage  the  bringing  of  wall  decorations,  win- 
dow curtains,  pictures,  vases,  stands,  plants,  flowers,  etc., 
to  make  the  room  cosy  and  attractive. 

9.    COAT-ROOM  LEADERS 

1.  Keep  coat-room  and  closets  neat  and  clean. 

2.  See  that  everything  is  in  proper  place. 

3.  Take  stock  of  supplies  and  inform  the  teacher 
when  supplies  are  needed. 

10.  TWO  MINUTE  DRILL  LEADERS 

1.  Give  orders  with  spirit  for  the  drill. 

2.  Give  command:  pause;  count. 

3.  Drill  —  Breathing. 

Stretching 
Bending 

4.  Set  a  high  standard  by  accepting  only  the  best. 

5.  Check  up  the  best  and  cross  those  that  need  im- 
provement. 


342  THE  JUNIOR   HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

6.  Arouse  the  class  to  high  standard  of  work. 

7.  Vary  the  exercise  with  the  permission  of  the  Di- 
rector of  Physical  Education. 

11.    HEALTH    LEADERS 

1.  Arrange  alphabetical  lists  of  class  in  note  book. 

2.  Examine  pupils  every  morning  before  nine  o'clock 
—  watch  for  combed  hair,  clean  ears,  clean  necks,  clean 
hands,  clean  ringer  nails,  clean  clothes  and  shined  shoes. 

3.  Check  up  on  points  under  (2)  in  book. 

4.  Make  wall  chart  of  points  in  book. 

5.  Check  up  class  records  on  this  chart  every  week. 

6.  Report  at  class  meetings  the  students  having  excel- 
lent records  and  those  who  have  failed  more  than  twice 
in  succession. 

7.  Talk  things  over  with  boys  or  girls  who  have  failed 
in  hygiene  or  those  who  are  Nutrition  3  or  4. 

8.  Try  to  arouse  class  to  high  standard  of  personal 
hygiene. 

12.     EXCURSION     LEADERS 

1.  Collect  money  from  each  pupil  in  each  group. 

2.  Give  money  to  head  leader  or  teacher. 

3.  Arouse  the  group  to  a  sense  of  gentlemanly  be- 
havior when  on  the  street,  on  the  cars,  at  the  place 
visited. 

4.  Impress  upon  the  group  to  be  inconspicuous,  to 
talk  softly,  to  enjoy'  themselves,  to  sit  quietly  in  the 
cars,  to  be  friendly  and  to  remember  fooling  and  righting 
are  entirely  out  of  place. 

5.  Keep  the  group  together;  see  that  nobody  lags 
behind  to  buy  something. 

6.  When  the  destination  is  reached  see  that  the  group 
follows  the  instruction  of  the  teacher. 


PUPIL   SELF-GOVERNMENT  343 

Pupil  Cooperation  in  the  Work  of  Their  Leaders- 

1.  If  a  lack  of  cooperation  is  evidenced  by  the  class 
toward  any  leader,  that  leader,  if  he  has  handled  the  sit- 
uation to  the  best  of  his  ability,  and  has  been  unsuccess- 
ful, promptly  reports  the  condition  to  the  class  teacher. 

2.  The  teacher  discusses  conditions  with  class  to  dis- 
cover the  cause  of  the  disturbance  and  why  it  is  failing 
to  cooperate  with  its  own  freely  chosen  leader  whom  it 
promised  to  support. 

3.  Gross  or  persistent  disorder  on  the  part  of  indi- 
viduals is  referred  to  the  Leaders'  Club. 

4.  By  constantly  calling  the  attention  of  the  class 
to  what  Speyer  Spirit  stands  for  and  means,  the  care- 
ful leader  forestalls  any  attempt  at  disorder.  He  does 
not  fear  the  trouble  maker  but  courageously  calls  to  his 
attention  the  possible  results  of  a  lack  of  cooperation. 

5.  In  all  cases  of  discipline  the  leader  acts  with  de- 
cision and  promptness,  first,  making  sure  that  he  has 
isolated  the  individual  offenders,  second,  that  he  knows 
exactly  the  nature  of  the  offender  and  the  offense.  As 
a  rule  he  does  not  deem  it  wise  to  punish  the  class  for  the 
misconduct  of  individuals. 

Observations  for  Marking  by  the  Leaders 

1.  Each  leader  marks  the  pupils  according  to  how 
they  live  up  to  their  responsibility  under  his  particular 
supervision.  (Home  work,  books,  health,  etc.,  etc.)  "1" 
or  "2"  for  excellent,  "3"  if  it  is  passable,  but  is  not  up  to 
the  highest  standards,  "4"  if  not  satisfactory,  and  "5"  if 
extremely  defective. 

2.  Control  is  checked  up  by  the  class  leaders  (halls, 
dismissals,  class  unsupervised,  etc.) 


344  THE  JUNIOR   HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

3.  All  leaders  at  end  of  month  give  average  mark 
of  pupils  to  class  leaders  who  average  all  and  give  the 
teacher  the  final  mark  for  each  student. 

4.  The  Bulletin  leader  makes  an  honor  roll  contain- 
ing names  of  the  excellent.  This  list  is  placed  in  the  class 
room. 

5.  Students  listed  for  five  consecutive  months  receive 
due  credit  towards  Speyer  "S"    (elsewhere  explained). 

For  the  Teacher 
Growth  of  the  Leader 

1.  Sum  up  the  elements  of  leadership  to  your  class. 
Give  some  concrete  examples  wherein  the  qualities  you 
deem  most  desirable  will  prove  of  benefit,  viz.:  ability 
along  certain  lines,  impartiality,  poise;  stress  the  ideals 
of  an  ideal  Speyer  boy. 

2.  Do  not  yourself  designate  any  leader.  From  your 
description  the  class  may  choose  the  boy  embodying  the 
qualities  of  leadership.  Do  not  be  discouraged  if  your 
choice  is  not  elected.  His  unpopularity  may  be  fully 
warranted  for  some  reason  unknown  to  yourself. 

3.  Make  the  defeated  candidates  for  leader  feel  that 
the  nomination  itself  was  an  honor.  The  real  test  of  their 
ability  is  through  the  opportunity  for  hearty,  active, 
cooperation  with  the  elected  members  whom  they  as 
assistant  leaders  play  a  major  part  in  aiding. 

4.  Make  your  platform  unmistakably  plain.  The 
leaders  of  their  choice,  whom  they  promise  to  respect, 
obey,  cooperate  with  in  every  way,  are  to  have  the  full 
support  of  the  Faculty  and  the  leaders  of  the  entire  school. 
A  leader  betraying  his  trust,  or  a  pupil  who  is  not  co- 
operative, should  find  himself  arrayed  against  every 
leader,  pupil  and  Faculty  member. 


PUPIL  SELF-GOVERNMENT  345 

Selection  of  Responsibilities 

List  each  boy  in  your  class  and  analyze  each  individ- 
ual's traits,  characteristics,  positive  elements.  Deter- 
mine the  desirable  activities  that  you  think  he  can  do  or 
would  like  to  do ;  find  some  work  for  him  that  will  keep 
him  busy  and  at  the  same  time  develop  a  desirable  qual- 
ity. Continue  to  add  responsibility  as  long  as  he  secures 
the  desired  results.  Be  exacting  and  demanding.  Take 
into  consideration  any  physical  defects,  weaknesses  or 
peculiarities,  assignments  from  other  teachers,  demands 
at  home,  neighborhood  associates.  Counteract  or  util- 
ize their  influence.     (See  caution  below.) 

Assignment  of  Responsibility  by  the  Teacher 

1.  Assignments  of  various  responsibilities  of  the 
various  leaders  are  a  test  of  your  appreciation  of  the 
leaders'  capabilities. 

2.  Each  leader  is  given  unmistakable  instructions 
for  which  he  is  held  strictly  accountable. 

3.  No  dispute  should  arise  as  to  the  functions  dele- 
gated to  the  various  leaders,  for  each  leader  knows  just 
what  he  should  do. 

The  Support  of  the  Leaders  by  Their  Class  and 
Class  Teacher 

1.  The  class  helps  the  leader  carry  out  the  respon- 
sibility he  has  undertaken.  It  understands  that  work  is 
necessary  for  success. 

2.  Consider  nothing  permanent.  There  is  always  room 
for  improvement. 

3.  The  teacher  who   has  every   pupil   strive  to   help 


346  THE  JUNIOR   HiGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

the  class  leader  is  himself  more  efficient.  The  aid  of  the 
ablest,  most  cooperative  and  loyal  group  of  assistants 
has  been  gained. 

4.  The  teacher  always  supports  the  class  and  the 
leader.  The  game  of  leadership  is  fair  and  hard,  but  is 
in  itself  the  greatest  reward. 

5.  The  teacher  is  firm  and  exacting  in  demands  at 
all  times. 

6.  Cooperation  and  harmony  exist  by  having  a  real 
acquaintance  with  each  individual  pupil. 

7.  The  able  teacher  maintains  the  smooth  temper, 
a  spirit  of  enthusiasm  and  optimism  and  though  dig- 
nified and  firm,  is  always  approachable. 

CAUTION. 

No  one  pupil  carries  too  many  responsibilities.  With 
the  exception  of  the  Class  Leader  no  pupil  carries  more 
than  one  major  responsibility.  Each  pupil,  so  far  as 
possible,  is  delegated  to  do  something.  (14  X  2  =  28  of- 
fices). 

Apparent  Lack  of  Leadership,  or  Failure  in  the  Plan 

1.  Do  not  forget  that  "boys  is  boys,"  inconsistent, 
irrepressible,  full  of  mischief,  boisterous,  emotional  and 
sympathetic. 

2.  The  weak  leader  is  given  the  opportunity  to  de- 
velop strength.  Keep  after  him,  help  develop  his 
responsibility ;  we  must  assist  him  till  he  becomes  strong 
enough  to  work  alone. 

3.  The  cooperation  of  the  teacher  is  very  necessary. 
Responsibility  cannot  be  given  to  the  pupil,  who  may  be 
expected  to  carry  out  what  he  is  told  to  do  without  able 


PUPIL   SELF-GOVERNMENT  347 

supervision.  The  teacher  follows  up  the  leader  at  all 
times.  Sympathy  and  understanding  are  strong  factors 
in  developing  the  leader.  The  situation  is  a  very  deli- 
cate one,  for  the  boy  must  feel  that  he  is  carrying  the 
responsibility.  Be  an  optimist.  Do  not  be  discouraged 
by  failures. 

After  some  six  years  of  experimentation  the  Leaders' 
Club  of  Speyer  School  —  the  pupil  self-governing  body 
—  finally  crystallized  its  rules  of  procedure  in  the  con- 
stitution which  follows. 

Let  it  be  understood  that  this  constitution  did  not 
spring  fully  formed  into  existence  —  in  fact,  for  three 
years  or  so  the  constitution  of  the  Leaders'  Club  was  an 
altogether  sketchy  and  hazy  affair  dependent  upon  unwrit- 
ten laws  which  were  being  built  up  quite  as  much,  if 
not  more,  than  upon  any  written  charter.  Even  in  its 
final  form  the  constitution  lays  no  emphasis  upon  rights 
of  pupils  to  self-government. 

The  constitution  then  is  submitted,  not  as  a  model  of 
completeness  in  any  particular,  but  rather  as  an  interest- 
ing exhibit  of  the  Speyer  boy's  idea  of  a  working  con- 
stitution for  present  needs,  six  years  after  the  club  was 
first  organized. 


THE    CONSTITUTION    OF    THE    LEADERS' 
CLUB    OF    SPEYER    SCHOOL 

Proposed,  Ratified  and  Adopted,  Feb.  23,  1921 

Article  I.       Name.     This  organization  shall   he  known  as, 
"The  Leaders'  Cub  of  Speyer  School" 

Article  II.    Objects.    The  objects  of  this  organization  shall 
be 
(a)  To  promote  a  spirit  of  cooperation  between  individual 


348  THE  JUNIOR  HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

and  individual; 

(b)  To  promote  a  spirit  of  cooperation  between  individual 
and  class; 

(c)  To  promote  a  spirit  of  cooperation  between  individual 
and  school;  all  of  which  must  lead  to  the  cooperation 
of  every  pupil  working  for  the  highest  ideals  of  schol- 
arship, athletics  and  social  activity  in  Speyer  School. 

Article  III.  Membership. 
Sec.  1.    There  shall  be  two  classes  of  members: 

(a)  Class  Leader   Members. 

(b)  Petition  Members. 

Sec.  2.  Class  Leader  Members  shall  be  the  two  leaders 
(President  and  Secretary)  elected  by  the  members 
of  a  regular  class. 

Sec.  3.  Petition  Members  shall  be  those  pupils  of  the 
Speyer  School  who  have  been  elected  to  member- 
ship after  the  following  procedure: 

1.  Application  for  Petition  Membership  in  "The 
Leaders'  Club  of  Speyer  School"  shall  be  presented 
in  writing  to  the  Chairman  of  the  Membership  Com- 
mittee. 

2.  The  letter  of  application  shall  contain  a  brief 
statement  or  description  of  three  "conspicuously 
praiseworthy"  acts  performed  during  the  month  pre- 
ceding application,  for  the  good  of  the  class  or  of 
Speyer  School. 

3.  Each  of  the  "conspicuously  praiseworthy  acts" 
is  to  be  attested  to  by  a  member  of  the  faculty,  or  by 
two  members  of  the  Leaders'  Club"  not  more  than 
one  of  whom  shall  be  in  the  applicant's  official 
class. 

Article  IV.  Officers. 

Sec.  1.  The  officers  of  the  Leader's  Club  shall  be, 

1.  President  3.  Secretary 

2.  Vice-president  4.  Treasurer 

Sec.  2.  Election  of  Officers.  Officers  of  the  Leaders'  Club 
shall  be  elected  and  installed  at  the  meetings  held 


PUPIL  SELF-GOVERNMENT  349 

during  the  last  week  of  December  and  May.  Officers 
of  the  Leaders'  Club  shall  retain  office  until  their  suc- 
cessors have  been  installed. 

Sec.  3.  Duties  of  Officers. 

1.  The  President  shall  preside  at  all  meetings,  un- 
less prevented  from  doing  so. 

2.  The  Vice-President  shall  preside  in  the  absence 
of,  or  at  the  request  of  the  President. 

3.  The  Secretary  shall  keep  a  record  of  the  min- 
utes of  all  meetings,  and  shall  conduct  correspond- 
ence for  the  club. 

4.  The  Treasurer  shall  keep  a  record  of  all  moneys 
received  and  disbursed,  including  the  funds  of  the 
General  Organization,  and  all  other  moneys  that  shall 
come  under  the  supervision  of  the  "Leaders' 
Club."  A  member  of  the  Faculty,  designated  by  the 
Leaders'  Club  shall  be  Treasurer.  It  shall  be  the 
Treasurer's  duty  to  submit  a  monthly  statement  to 
the  Leaders'  Club. 

Article  V.  Meetings. 
Seel.  A  regular  monthly  meeting  of  the  Leaders'  Club  shall 
be  held  at  3:15  P.  M.  on  each  Tuesday  afternoon  during 
the  school  year,  except  when  Tuesday  shall  be  a  holiday, 
in  which  case,  meeting  shall  be  held  on  Wednesday 
afternoon. 

Sec.  2.  Twelve  members  shall  constitute  a  quorum  for  all 

meetings. 
Sec.    3.    The  Order  of  Business  at  regular  meetings  shall  be: 

1.  Call  to  order  by  the  Chair 

2.  Roll  Call 

3.  Reading  of  Minutes 

4.  Treasurer's    Report     (Last    meeting    in    each 

month) 

5.  Reports  of  Committees 

6.  Unfinished   business 

7.  New  Business 

8.  Election  of  Officers 

9.  Good  and  Welfare 
10.  Adjournment 


350  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

Article  VI.  Committees. 

Sec.  1.  The  only  standing  Committee  shall  be  the  Member- 
ship Committee.  All  other  committees  shall  be  ap- 
pointed by  the  Chair. 

Sec.  2.  The  Membership  Committee  shall  be  constituted  as 
follows : 

(a)  The  four  officers  of  the  Leaders'  Club. 

(b)  Two  members  of  the  Faculty  elected  by  the 
Leaders'  Club. 

(c)  The  Faculty  Adviser. 

(d)  One  leader  from  each  grade  elected  by  the  lead- 
ers of  the  grade. 

Article  VII.  Resignations. 
Sec.  1.  Ungentlemanly  conduct,  lack  of  leadership,  or  absence 
from  three   consecutive  meetings  without   excuse 
satisfactory  to  the  Leaders'  Club  shall  be  consid- 
ered just  cause  for  requesting  a  member  to  resign. 
Sec.  2.  Any  member  of  the  Leaders'  Club  shall  be  forced  to 
resign : 

(a)  When  he  ceases  to  be  elected  President  or  Sec- 
retary of  his  class,  unless  thereafter  he  shall  be 
regularly  elected  to  Petition  Membership. 

(b)  On  the  written  petition  of  three  members  of  the 
Faculty. 

(c)  On  the  written  petition  of  one  member  of  the 
Faculty  with  a  majority  of  the  leaders  present 
at  a  regular  meeting  of  the  Leaders'  Club. 

(d)  By  a  three-fourths  vote  of  the  Leaders'  Club. 

Article  VIII.  Amendments. 
This  constitution  may  be  amended  when  such  amendment  is 
proposed  by  two-thirds  of  the  Class  Presidents  (upon 
the  expressed  will  of  the  members  of  their  classes)  or  by 
two-thirds  of  the  members  of  the  Leaders'  Club;  and 
when  ratified  by  three-fourths  of  the  members  of  the 
Leaders'  Club,  or  by  three-fourths  of  the  pupils  of 
Speyer  School,  provided,  however,  that  no  proposed 
amendment  shall  be  ratified  unless  posted  on  the  school 
bulletin  board  for  at  least  one  week  before  final  action 
is  taken. 


PUPIL   SELF-GOVERNMENT  351 

Article   IX.    Initiation. 
It  shall  be  required  that  every  Class  Leader  Member,  or 
Petition  Member  of  the  Leaders'  Club  shall  subscribe  to 
the  following: 

"I  believe  that  a  Speyer  Boy  should  be  Trustworthy, 
Loyal,  Helpful,  Friendly,  Courteous,  Respectful. 
Cheerful,      Thrifty,       Brave,       Clean.       " 

As  a  pupil  of  Speyer  School,  and  as  a  member  of  "The 
Leaders'  Club  of  Speyer  School,"  I  shall  consider  it  my 
duty, 

(a)  To  make  every  endeavor  to  live  up  to  the  Speyer 
Creed. 

(b)  To  set  a  good  example  to  others,  both  in  school 
and  out. 

(c)  To  cooperate  with  my  fellow-pupils  in  striving  to 
do  better  those  worthwhile  things  that  I  will  try 

to  do. 


BY-LAWS 

1.  Each  class  shall  elect  a  President,  a  Vice-President,  a 
Secretary  and  an  Assistant  Secretary.  The  Vice-President  shall 
attend  meetings  when  the  President  of  the  class  is  unable 
to  do  so.  The  Assistant-Secretary  shall  attend  for  the  Secre- 
tary in  like  manner. 

2.  No  pupil  shall  make  application  for  Petition  Member- 
ship whose  Report  Card  shows  a  record  "below  average''  in  a 
subject  or  in  a  personal  habit. 

3.  The  Membership  Committee  shall  meet  on  the  Monday 
afternoon  preceding  the  last  monthly  meeting  of  the  Leaders' 
Club,  and  shall  draw  up  a  list  of  nominations  for  member- 
ship, which  list  shall  be  voted  on  by  the  Leaders'  Club,  only 
at  the  last  meeting  of  each  month. 

4.  Before  an  applicant  for  Petition  membership  can  be  nomi- 
nated by  the  Membership  Committee,  eachofthe  acts  presented 
as  an  evidence  of  leadership  must  be  voted  "conspicuously 
praiseworthy"  by  the  members  of  the  Committee. 

5.  A  pupil  who  is  rejected  for  nomination  by  the  Member- 
ship Committee  shall  not  make  application  again  within  one 
month  of  the  date  of  rejection. 


352  THE  JUNIOR   HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

6.  Upon  vote  of  the  members  present  at  a  regular  meeting, 
the  President  of  the  Leaders'  Club  may  order  an  offending 
member  to  leave  the  meeting.  Such  member  shall  not  attend 
another  meeting  until  a  letter  of  apology  has  been  read  and 
accepted  by  the  Leaders  present  at  a  following  meeting. 

7.  The  President  shall  have  the  power  to  designate  the  chair- 
man of  an  appointed  committee,  but,  if  he  shall  see  fit,  he  may 
direct  the  members  of  the  committee  to  elect  a  chairman  from 
among  their  number. 

8.  Upon  the  advice  of  the  Faculty  Adviser,  the  President  in 
appointing  a  committee  shall  request  a  member  of  the  Faculty 
to  serve  as  a  member  of  the  committee. 

9.  The  Treasurer  shall  make  no  disbursements,  except  upon 
vote  of  the  Leaders'  Club,  and  after  the  receipt  of  an  order 
signed  by  the  President  and  Secretary  of  the  Leaders'  Club. 

10.  The  financial  records  and  books  of  the  Treasurer  shall  be 
audited  during  the  first  week  in  January,  and  during  the  first 
week  in  May.  An  auditing  committee  of  three  leaders  shall 
be  appointed.  The  chairman  of  the  auditing  committee  shall 
present  a  report  of  the  audit  to  the  Leaders'  Club  at  the  meet- 
ing following  the  completion  of  the  audit. 

11.  The  election  of  Petition  Members  to  the  Leaders'  Club 
shall  be  the  first  item  to  be  considered  under  New  Business 
at  the  last  meeting  of  each  month. 

[Finally,  with  all  this  formalism  of  constitution  and 
by-laws,  we  must  not  forget  that  our  boys,  when  natural, 
will  behave  as  half-savage  and  we  must  make  all  due 
allowances  for  their  possible  lapses.  Especially  should  we 
avoid  beginning  too  early  to  codify  or  formalize  our  boys' 
efforts  toward  a  system  of  self-governmen\ 

Indeed  it  may  be  better  if  we  never  work  out  a  con- 
stitution or  by-laws  at  all  until  there  comes  an  insist- 
ent demand  for  them  to  standardize  procedure.  Far 
better  to  have  our  leaders'  club  conducted  by  crude 
unwritten  laws  than  to  have  it  develop  a  group  of  little 
formal  prigs  who  fail  to  represent  what  the  pupils  of  the 
school  really  stand  for  in  sincerity  and  truth. 


TEACHER   PARTICIPATION    IN   ADMINISTRATION  353 

QUESTIONS 

1.  Why  have  so  many  experiments  in  pupil  self-government 

failed? 

2.  To  be  of  the  greatest  value  how  must  pupils'  ideals  of  con- 

duct be  imposed? 

3.  What  assumption  may  I  make  that  will  enable  me  to  be 

more  tolerant  in  my  plans  for  pupil  self-government? 

4.  What  makes  a  boy  a  leader  in  his  group  of  friends? 

5.  Where  must  I  start  to  make  my  pupils  select  voluntarily 

the  type  of  leader  that  I  believe  in  ? 

6.  What  boys'  code  of  morals  and  conduct  is  the  best  one  I 

know  of?    Can  I  repeat  it  from  memory? 

7.  What  must  I  avoid  in  trying  to  have  my  pupils  accept  the 

code  in  which  I  believe? 

8.  How  can  my  pupils  be  led  without  my  direct  interposition 

to  select  their  leaders  wisely? 

9.  How  may  succeeding  groups  be  led  to  accept  for  themselves 

the  ideals  that  earlier  groups  have  built  up? 
10.  Can  I  name  ten  leaders  with  their  duties,  that  might  be 
established  in  my  class? 


CHAPTER  XX 

TEACHER   PARTICIPATION   IN    JUNIOR   HIGH 
SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

There  is  no  real  need  in  a  discussion  of  junior  high 
school  problems  to  add  to  the  natural  complications  of 
our  study,  the  great  problem  of  Teacher  Participation  in 
School  Government.  Yet  if  we  are  to  make  progress  in 
all  lines  of  school  work  as  the  result  of  our  unique  po- 
sition as  the  newest  and  best  type  of  all  American  schools, 
we  must  be  ready  to  meet  all  the  newer  problems  of 
education  that  may  be  presented  to  us  for  our  consider- 
ation. 

Surely  an  efficient,  progressive,  forward-facing  junior 
high  school  can  be  organized  and  maintained  today  with- 
out involving  ourselves  in  this  problem  of  teacher  self- 
government  that  the  next  generation  will  surely  be  forced 
to  consider.  However,  as  pioneers  of  modern  times,  we 
may  nevertheless  be  losing  an  opportunity  that  because 
of  our  newness  we  are  best  fitted  to  grasp,  if  we  fail  at 
least  to  look  over  the  territory  that  the  next  genera- 
tion will  surely  open  up  for  settlement. 

So  then  if  we  decide  to  work-over  this  new  field  to- 
gether, let  it  be  with  the  full  understanding  that  we  need 
not  do  so  for  the  success  of  our  present  junior  high  school 
administration,  but  rather  because  such  an  added  survey 
may  put  us,  or  our  successors,  in  a  position  to  profit  by 
our  explorations  and  discoveries  in  meeting  and  settling 
difficulties  that  surely  lie  not  so  very  far  ahead. 

354 


TEACHER   PARTICIPATION    IN    ADMINISTRATION  355 

There  has  been  a  great  deal  of  discussion  and  some 
rancorous  comment  on  the  need  of  democracy  in  edu- 
cation. It  has  been  claimed  that  most  school  systems 
are  an  autocracy  of  the  least  considerate  type.  The 
superintendent,  or  the  principal,  lays  down  the  law  and 
the  teachers  are  supposed  to  emulate  the  spirit  of  the 
Six  Hundred  —  "Theirs  not  to  reason  why  —  theirs  but  to 
do  or  die." 

Yet  we  find  from  superintendents  and  principals  come 
most  of  the  concrete  suggestions  for  teacher  participation 
in  school  government.  In  nearly  every  section  of  this 
country  sperintendents  are  giving  this  subject  of  teacher 
participation  considerable  time  and  attention. 

In  discussing  the  theoretical  effect  of  teachers'  or- 
ganizations, actual  or  possible,  upon  the  administration 
of  the  schools  of  any  locality,  there  seems  to  be  a  division 
of  opinion  depending  upon  two  major  points  of  view. 
A  review,  therefore,  of  these  two  opposing  views  may  be 
worth  while,  on  three  proposed  kinds  of  teacher  par- 
ticipation. 

first,  teachers'  organizations  should  be  perfected  for 
the  purpose  of  — Influencing  Public  Opinion  —  of  in- 
forming, interesting  and  influencing  the  (local)  public  as 
to  what  school  legislation  is  necessary.  Members  of  those 
organizations  should  be  school  missionaries.  Possibly 
they  may  become  the  nucleus  of  a  non-partisan  political 
party  as  a  "school"  party  for  influencing  city  government 
in  school  matters. 

But  teachers  are  not  united  among  themselves,  but 
divided  by  personal  interests,  personal  grievances  and 
personal  ambitions;  therefore  they  cannot  present  a 
united  front.  They  are  unwilling  to  make  the  effort  or 
to  spend  the  time  to  become  truly  acquainted  with  the 
social  conditions  of  the  parents  for  whom  they  work, 


356  THE  JUNIOR   HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

all  of  which  is  necessary  for  the  success  of  such  a  move- 
ment. They  lack  a  true  social  interest  in  the  welfare 
of  their  local  community;  they  are  ignorant  of  the 
aims,  ideals  and  aspirations  of  its  pupils  and  their  par- 
ents. 

second,  teachers  should  form  an  important  branch 
of  the  Policy  Forming  group  of  any  municipal  school 
system.  The  superintendents  should  be  left  free  to  ex- 
ecute these  policies.  For  example,  the  curricula  (syllabi 
of  instruction)  should  grow  from  the  class-room  where 
the  teacher  is  in  immediate  contact  with  those  who  are 
being  instructed.  Artisan  teachers  should  have  no  power 
in  teachers'  organizations  or  in  policy-forming  bodies  of 
teachers. 

But  most  teachers  work  effectively  at  what  they  are 
told  to  teach;  they  have  frequently  no  adequate  knowl- 
edge of  why  they  should  teach  the  things  they  do.  There- 
fore the  judgment  of  the  class-room  teacher  is  not  apt  to 
be  of  large  constructive  value.  The  bricklayer  is  an 
artisan  who,  taking  his  blueprints,  builds  his  own  wall 
skillfully.  He  has  little  idea  of  the  reason  for  building 
this  wall  of  a  certain  size  and  shape.  The  architect 
sees  the  inter-relation  and  use  of  every  part  of  the 
structure  on  which  he  works.  The  architect  has  the 
professional  viewpoint.  Most  teachers,  however,  are 
artisans  only;  they  have  not  the  vision  to  enable  them 
to  legislate  wisely  for  their  group  as  a  whole. 

third,  teachers  should  elect  a  Representative  Assem- 
bly or  Council  which  may  be  consulted  by  the  Board  of 
Education,  and  the  Superintendent  of  Schools.  One  plan 
is  to  have  the  voluntary  organizations  nominate  the 
candidates  and  then  to  refer  these  nominations  directly  to 
the  schools  for  an  election  at  large.  Another  plan  is  to 
have  the   teachers   elect   one   representative   for   every 


TEACHER   PARTICIPATION   IN   ADMINISTRATION  357 

hundred,  two  hundred,  or  three  hundred  teachers,  then  to 
have  these  representatives  meet  and  elect  the  general  of- 
ficers and  the  smaller  executive  committee  or  council 
"with  power." 

But  one  reason  for  the  general  unwillingness  to  grant 
real  power  to  such  a  council  has  been  the  experience 
that  teachers  are  inclined  to  elect  to  such  a  council  the 
ultra  radicals,  persons  with  a  hobby  or  with  a  grievance. 
Furthermore,  there  appears  to  be  among  the  more  refined 
women  teachers  especially,  a  genuine  shrinking  from  the 
publicity  of  a  candidacy  for  election  to  a  teachers'  coun- 
cil. This  may  deprive  such  a  council  of  some  of  the 
best  material  in  the  teaching  force. 

And  yet,  when  we  consider  all  the  propositions,  we  find 
that  no  provision  has  as  yet  been  made,  or  even  suggested, 
for  entrusting  definite  legislative  or  executive  power  to 
any  teachers'  council.  Such  a  council  may  be  consulted, 
but  need  not  even  be  considered.  It  is  without  legal 
.power  to  compel  any  one  in  genuine  authority  to  seriously 
consider  any  of  its  proposals.  No  superintendent  as  yet 
seems  to  have  had  the  courage,  or  the  temerity,  to  even 
propose  a  genuine  experiment  in  teacher  participation  in 
school  administration. 

Nevertheless,  at  the  National  Citizens  Conference  on 
Education  held  in  May  1920,  at  Washington,  the  matter 
of  teacher  participation  was  considered  to  be  of  sufficient 
importance  to  warrant  passing  the  following  resolutions: 

"The  attitude  of  the  board  of  education  and  of  its 
chief  executive  officers  toward  the  teaching  staff  should 
be  such  that,  while  preserving  inviolate  their  authority 
to  make  final  decisions,  it  nevertheless  encourages  to  the 
utmost  the  exercise  of  both  the  individual  and  collective 
initiative  of  the  teaching  staff,  for  in  no  other  way  can 
systems  of  schools  be  prevented  from  becoming  unduly 


358  THE   JUNIOR  HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

autocratic  and  therefore  static  and  ineffective.  In  few 
cities  are  educational  authorities  drawing  heavily  enough 
upon  the  great  reservoir  of  power  stored  up  in  the  col- 
lective mind  of  the  teaching  body.  Only  through  de- 
vising opportunity  for  a  freer  and  fuller  expression  of 
opinion  and  of  conviction  on  the  part  of  its  entire  staff 
can  this  source  of  vitalizing  and  energizing  power  be 
tapped. 

"While  the  importance  of  thus  securing  and  utilizing 
the  experience  and  wisdom  of  teachers  in  matters  of 
school  procedure  is  recognized,  it  must  also  be  recog- 
nized that  policies  once  decided  upon  by  those  in  final 
authority  should  be  loyally  supported,  for  in  no  other 
way  can  that  cooperative  effort  upon  which  success 
depends  be  secured." 

We  may  believe  that  the  insistance  upon  obedience 
to  final  authority  as  indicated  in  these  resolutions  rests 
upon  the  conviction  earlier  stated  in  our  chapter  that  the 
mass  of  teachers,  or  the  combined  intelligence  of  the 
group,  cannot  be  trusted  to  decide  wisely,  nor  to  act 
justly,  in  matters  of  serious  moment. 

It  may  be  possible  that  a  large  group  of  teachers  can  be 
momentarily  stampeded  by  an  appealing  orator  (we  have 
known  political  conventions  of  hard-headed  politicians 
to  have  been  similarly  affected)  but  the  more  one  works 
in  serious  gatherings  of  professional  teachers,  the  more 
one  will  become  convinced  that  by  and  large,  a  group 
of  experienced  teachers  will  make  no  more  mistakes  of 
judgment  than  will  the  average  superintendent  in  the 
same  length  of  time. 

Particularly  because  the  superintendent  has  to  pass 
most  frequently  upon  the  cases  of  teachers  who  have 
a  grievance  and  who  seek  to  modify  his  decision  on  their 
case  by  political  influence,  the  superintendent  is  chiefly 


TEACHER   PARTICIPATION   IN   ADMINISTRATION  359 

busied  with  the  affairs  of  teachers  whose  influence  on  the 
school  system  might  be  distinctly  harmful.  Consequently 
his  point  of  view  can  scarcely  escape  the  bias  of  his  ex- 
perience. The  sane,  hard-working,  devoted  teacher  has 
little  occasion  to  visit  the  superintendent.  She  is  involved 
in  no  difficulties  needing  the  superintendent's  intervention 
and  in  his  unconscious  survey  of  the  possibilities  of 
teacher  participation  the  dependable  teacher  is  often  lost 
sight  of  because  she  is  intent  upon  doing  her  own  work 
and  minding  her  own  business. 

Teacher  participation  in  school  administration  if  it  is 
to  come  wisely,  must  come  from  experiments,  not  in 
a  school  system  at  large,  but  in  individual  schools  here 
and  there  where  the  principal  is  willing  to  assume  the 
responsibility  that  such  an  experiment  entails. 

If  the  experiment  fails  it  may  be  abandoned,  but  if 
harm  is  done  to  the  school  or  to  the  system  before  its 
abandonment,  or  even  in  the  process  of  its  evolution, 
then  the  principal  alone,  under  our  present  educational 
system,  can  be  called  to  account  and  made  to  pay  the 
penalty. 

There  is  not  then  great  wonder  that  the  democratization 
of  our  schools  comes  slowly.  The  principal  who  tries 
it  has  his  very  position  at  stake  if  he  fails,  while  if  he 
succeeds  he  has  but  the  moral  or  intellectual  satisfaction 
of  having  done  something  worth  while  —  which  gets  him 
no  reward  on  earth  at  least. 

The  man  who  will  try  to  secure  genuine  teacher  par- 
ticipation in  school  government  must  be  profoundly 
convinced  that  the  experiment  is  so  much  worth  while 
that  even  his  livelihood  must  be  risked  if  necessary  to 
accomplish  the  desired  results.  In  the  final  analysis, 
he  must  be  prepared  for  martyrdom  if  that  be  necessary 
—  at  least  so  he  may  see  it  in  imagination. 


360  THE  JUNIOR  HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

It  is  this  fear  of  what  may  happen,  or  what  might 
.happen,  that  keeps  many  a  principal  from  attempting 
to  put  in  practice  the  procedure  which  he  may  be  in- 
tellectually and  morally  convinced  is  the  proper  course. 
It  is  this  terror  of  the  unknown  as  a  child  afraid  of  the 
dark,  that  has  kept  many  a  principal  from  inviting  his 
teachers  to  share  with  him  the  burdens  and  the  respon- 
sibilities of  managing  the  school.  Together  with  this 
terror  of  the  unknown  is  the  principal's  unquestioned 
knowledge  that  those  of  his  force  who  call  most  loudly 
for  participation  in  the  management  of  the  school  are 
frequently  those  who,  in  his  judgment,  would  be  least 
able  to  be  trusted  with  a  voice  or  a  vote  in  school  man- 
agement. 

Finally,  the  safe  and  sane  teachers,  who  are  happy  and 
successful  in  their  work,  feel  but  rarely  any  desire  to  par- 
ticipate in  school  management.  If  the  proposition  of 
teacher  participation  were,  without  discussion,  put  to  a 
vote  in  most  well  managed  and  successful  public  schools, 
it  would  surely  be  defeated  in  the  great  majority  of  cases, 
if  for  no  other  reason  than  that  the  teachers  trust  their 
principal  and  have  already  problems  of  their  own  de- 
manding their  full  attention. 

So  it  is  that  while  we  are  training  future  citizens  in  our 
modern  schools,  the  institutions  in  which  this  training 
is  given  are,  in  their  system  of  beneficent  despotism, 
over  a  century  behind  the  America  of  today. 

In  a  large,  prosperous  and  respected  private  institu- 
tion of  learning  in  one  of  our  great  cities,  the  president  of 
the  institution  after  considerable  study  and  with  some 
misgivings,  decided  that  he  would  no  longer  conduct  his 
faculty  meetings  after  the  old  plan.  This  had  consisted 
in  his  assembling  the  professors  at  a  formally  announced 
gathering  at  which  he  announced  certain  rules  and  regu- 


TEACHER   PARTICIPATION   IN   ADMINISTRATION  361 

lations  which  the  faculty  was  to  accept  and  to  carry  out 
without  discussion. 

This  leader  decided  if  Czardom  were  to  end  in 
political  government,  that  it  was  high  time  for  it  to 
disappear  from  educational  government  as  well.  Con- 
sequently, in  his  monthly  meetings,  he  no  longer  lectured 
to  the  faculty,  laying  down  the  laws  they  were  to  fol- 
low, but  instead  took  to  them  for  discussion  and  advice 
all  the  larger  problems  of  good  management  that  were 
causing  him  concern.  These  questions  he  hoped  would 
be  freely  and  frankly  debated  and  the  combined  in- 
telligence of  the  group  would  finally  be  put  in  force, 
by  their  own  voluntary  adoption. 

At  first  there  was,  as  might  be  expected,  considerable 
diffidence  shown  on  the  part  of  many  of  the  instructors 
toward  expressing  themselves  freely,  fearing  lest  they 
appear  unduly  officious,  or  even  antagonistic.  This  feel- 
ing, however,  wore  away  in  time,  to  be  replaced  by  a 
feeling  of  opposition  to  the  new  plan  which  arose  from 
quite  another  reason.  The  voice  of  the  majority,  ex- 
pressed by  their  spokesman,  one  of  the  older  men,  was 
to  this  effect:  "We  are  ready  and  willing  to  carry  out 
your  policies.  All  we  want  to  know  is  what  you  want 
done.  We  do  not  wish  to  be  bothered  with  discussing 
the  whys  and  wherefores  of  administrative  problems. 
We  have  our  own  problems  in  our  various  departments. 
—  why  add  your  problems  to  ours?  We  have  enough 
to  do  with  our  own.  Tell  us  what  to  do  and  we  will  do 
it  gladly,  but  do  not  ask  us  to  consider  any  more  un- 
settled questions  affecting  the  institution  as  a  whole." 

The  second  illustration  comes  from  a  public  school  in 
New  York  City  where  the  principal,  a  well-educated 
and  efficient  leader,  attempted  to  adopt  a  similar  demo- 
cratic plan  for  the  teachers  of  his  school.    Instead  of  as 


362  THE  JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL  IDEA 

before  issuing  unmistakable  orders,  though  always  care- 
fully worded  as  requests,  he  brought  before  his  teachers' 
conferences  proposed  regulations  concerning  the  teachers 
themselves  as  well  as  those  concerning  chiefly  the  pu- 
pils. Though  there  was  no  great  enthusiasm  over  the 
change,  there  was,  on  the  other  hand,  no  active  oppo- 
sition to  it.  The  various  matters  of  school  concern 
were  moved,  seconded  and  either  defeated  or  passed 
by  the  teachers  at  their  stated  meetings.  If  there  was 
any  change  in  spirit  among  the  teachers  themselves, 
it  was  in  a  little  lessening  of  their  accustomed  defer- 
ence to  the  man  in  charge.  In  general,  the  school  went 
along  as  before — no  worthy  regulations  were  defeated  and 
practically  all  that  were  passed,  passed  by  unanimous 
vote. 

However,  the  enthusiasm  that  this  man  expected 
from  his  teachers  over  this  change  in  management  — 
and  he  really  gave  the  teachers  the  full  and  free  right 
to  pass  or  defeat  all  propositions  concerning  themselves 
—  was  never  noticeable.  No  explanation  was  forthcom- 
ing until  word  reached  him  through  an  intimate  friend 
to  whom  innocently  one  of  his  teachers  had  said: 
"Do  you  know  that  Mr.  X.  is  getting  so  lazy  this  year 
that  he  makes  his  teachers  do  for  him  all  the  work  that 
he  is  paid  to  do.  He  never  bothers  to  make  any  rules 
for  us  or  for  our  pupils,  but  makes  us  do  all  that  work 
for  him  at  our  teachers'  meetings.  I  think  he  is  shirk- 
ing his  responsibility  and  that  the  superintendent  should 
be  told  about  it.  We  have  work  enough  to  do  without 
being  compelled  to  do  his  work  besides." 

Stories  to  the  opposite  effect  may  exist,  but  these  two 
experiments,  both  known  to  be  matters  of  unquestioned 
fact,  show  that  if  we  are  able  to  have  any  real  form  of 
self-government  for  teachers,  we  cannot  hope,  as  a  rule, 


TEACHER   PARTICIPATION   IN   ADMINISTRATION  363 

for  any  great  degree  of  enthusiasm  over  the  change. 
Indeed  one  might  go  so  far  as  to  say  that,  on  the  whole, 
it  is  only  the  largely  inefficient  and  unsuccessful  teacher 
that  imagines  the  iron  heel  of  the  principal  pressed  down 
upon  her  neck  and  so  craves  for  power  to  remove  it  by 
taking  from  him,  as  she  hopes,  some  of  his  professional 
authority.  If  no  other  good  is  obtained  by  teacher  par- 
ticipation than  the  mere  squelching  of  the  inefficient  or 
lazy  teacher  by  her  fellow  workers,  a  great  good  is  se- 
cured. As  we  all  know,  the  most  conspicuous  source  of 
school  disloyalty  is  the  teacher  who  is  failing  in  her 
work.  This  unhappy  and  ill-adjusted  person  is  most 
anxious  to  remove  all  suspicion  from  herself  by  em- 
phasizing the  shortcomings  of  her  supervisor  under  whose 
alleged  mismanagement  she  is  unable  to  accomplish  the 
results  that  her  natural  ability  would,  if  unhampered, 
undoubtedly  secure.  When  the  regulations  checking  her 
shortcomings  and  exposing  her  incompetency  are  passed 
by  an  almost  unanimous  vote  of  her  fellow  teachers  such 
a  self-satisfied  individual  is  forced  to  turn  her  criticisms 
self-ward.  Even  though  the  tendency  for  most  of  us  in 
teaching  and  supervising  is  to  temper  the  wind  for  the 
shorn  lamb,  here  is  little  intellectual  sympathy  in  any 
teaching  group  for  the  shirk  or  the  slacker. 

On  the  whole,  one  may  say  that  the  efficient  principal 
need  never  fear  that  the  good  judgment  of  a  majority  of 
his  teachers  will  be  inferior  to  his  own  upon  matters  of 
school  management.  Indeed,  one  might  go  so  far  as  to 
say  that  no  principal,  however  wonderful  in  administra- 
tion, will  fail  to  find  genuine  help  from  the  discussion 
and  advice  of  his  teaching  group  as  a  whole,  provided 
only  that  this  group  willingly  accepts  and  enthusiasti- 
cally enters  into  the  work  and  study  of  cooperative  school 
management. 


364  THE  JUNIOR   HIGH  SCHOOL   IDEA 

If  any  principal  should  find  a  school  really  incapable 
of  self-management,  he  would  find  at  the  same  time  a 
school  incapable  of  satisfactory  results  under  any  type 
of  administration.  Such  schools  may  possibly  exist, 
though  few  if  any  of  us  have  ever  seen  one.  For  the  most 
part,  any  conspicuous  failure  in  self-government  would 
lead  us  to  agree  with  General  Grant,  who  is  reputed  to 
have  originated  the  epigram  "There  are  no  poor  regi- 
ments —  only  poor  colonels." 

However,  the  compelling  arguments  for  a  cooperative, 
self-governing  school  come  neither  from  the  teachers  nor 
the  principal.  The  teachers  who  seek  self-government 
most  vociferously  usually  do  so  in  the  hope  of  being 
freed  from  some  wholly  necessary  and  really  undebat- 
able  regulations.  The  principal  who  advocates  most 
vigorously  self-government  may  be  accused  of  trying 
to  get  more  work  out  of  his  already  over-worked  teachers. 

The  only  real  arguments  for  a  self-regulated  school 
come  from  the  American  people  as  a  whole,  whose  chil- 
dren give  the  schools  existence.  If  we  as  parents  wish  our 
children  to  be  educated  as  self-respecting,  self-governing 
men  and  women,  we  have  a  right  to  demand  that  they 
be  taught  in  institutions  where  are  practiced  the  customs 
we  hope  they  later  will  acquire.  We  may  entrust  instruc- 
tion in  the  rudiments  of  learning  to  slaves,  but  we  can- 
not hope  for  character  building  and  intellectual  guidance 
for  adolescents  from  men  and  women  who  do  not  and 
cannot  govern  themselves. 

At  once  some  one  will  object  to  the  possible  opening 
of  our  higher  schools  through  self-government  to  the 
secretly  salaried  agitator  who  endeavors  to  alienate  our 
children  from  their  natural  allegiance  to  the  land  of  their 
birth  or  of  their  parents'  adoption.  It  may  be  claimed 
that  this  fomentor  of  civil  strife,  if  not  of  treason  and 


TEACHER   PARTICIPATION   IN   ADMINISTRATION  365 

rebellion,  will  find  an  opportunity  to  spread  his  nefarious 
doctrines  as  a  teacher  in  our  schools  unless  repressed 
and  removed  by  the  autocratic  hand  of  superior  authority. 

Now  there  may  be  public  schools  where  such  treason 
finds  support  among  a  majority  of  the  teachers.  Yet  no 
one  of  us  has  ever  known  of  such  a  school  in  actuality. 
Indeed  if  such  a  school  were  to  exist,  it  would  be  hopeless 
to  think  of  repressing  it  by  any  exercise  of  authority  save 
that  of  the  Federal  Secret  Service. 

Quicker  and  surer  than  the  action  of  any  principal  or 
superintendent  would  be  the  action  of  the  self-governing- 
school  faculty.  But  once  place  upon  the  teachers  of  any 
school  the  responsibility  of  keeping  their  own  ranks  free 
from  suspicion  by  bringing  to  trial  those  of  their  members 
suspected  of  disloyalty  to  flag  and  country  and  we  may 
be  sure  that  there  will  be  no  treasonable  doctrines  pro- 
mulgated in  the  instruction  given  at  that  school.  We  know 
beyond  the  necessity  of  further  proof  that  the  great  bulk 
(probably  all  but  one  in  a  thousand)  of  our  city  and 
country  public  school  teachers  are  true  and  loyal  Amer- 
icans. One  does  not  find  a  higher  percentage  than  this 
in  most  boards  of  education,  whether  appointed  or  elected. 

However,  our  early  steps  in  school  self-government  do 
not  consider  as  yet  any  proposals  to  render  teachers'  ten- 
ure dependent  upon  the  suffrage  of  their  peers;  those 
who  oppose  the  extension  of  self-government  for  teachers 
on  the  grounds  of  possible  disloyalty  provide  only 
an  argument  for  its  complete  adoption.  For  our 
purposes,  the  chief  matters  to  be  considered  are  those 
purely  local  regulations  left  by  common  consent  here- 
tofore to  the  fiat  of  the  principal.  Such  matters  may 
seem  of  little  educational  moment,  but  they  concern 
mightily  the  spirit  in  which  the  school  is  conducted. 

The  seemingly  trivial  question  of  the  assignment  of 


366  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

teachers  to  monitorial  service  outside  their  rooms,  the 
more  serious  regulations  of  the  fire  drill,  the  time  for 
mid-term  tests  or  final  examinations,  the  requirements 
for  promotion,  the  rules  governing  the  conduct  of 
teachers  during  school  hours  or  of  the  pupils  when  out  of 
their  class-room  but  inside  the  school  grounds,  all  these 
have  been  from  time  immemorial  promulgated  as  "orders 
from  the  office,"  yet  they  can  become  still  more  seriously 
observed  if  promulgated  by  a  faculty  that  feels  the  seri- 
ousness of  its  responsibility.  The  crux  of  the  whole 
matter  lies  in  the  genuine  acceptance  by  the  teaching 
body  of  voluntary  serious  responsibility  as  an  accom- 
paniment of  self-determination. 

This  responsibility  for  the  children  and  to  the  com- 
munity must  be  felt  by  each  teacher  in  the  group.  To 
some,  this  responsibility  will  come  as  a  pleasure,  to  others 
as  a  matter  of  indifference  and  to  still  others  as  an  added 
burden.  It  is  always  possible,  however,  for  a  majority  to 
secure  pleasure  from  the  exercise  of  added  authority,  even 
though  that  mean  added  burdens.  It  is  not  what  we  do, 
but- what  we  do  unwillingly,  that  tires  us.  Nothing  that 
we  do  willingly  is  disagreeable.  So  it  rests  upon  the 
principal  of  the  school  to  convert  his  teachers  as  gradually 
as  may  be  necessary  to  the  necessity  of  self-government, 
and  to  do  this  he  must  act  (and  be  accepted  as  oneacting) 
not  in  his  own  or  his  teachers'  interests,  but  wholly  in 
the  interests  of  the  community  and  the  Nation.  As  a 
good  American  first,  and  second,  as  a  good  leader,  he 
must  build  up  an  interest  where  one  is  lacking.  This 
he  may  best  do  by  moving  slowly,  by  studying  each  step 
carefully  in  advance  and  by  making  sure  that  a  reason- 
able degree  of  added  pleasure  is  secured  for  his  teachers 
in   each   forward   step. 

The  first  step  is  not  therefore  autocratically  placing 


TEACHER   PARTICIPATION   IN   ADMINISTRATION  367 

authority  in  administrative  matters  in  the  hands  of  the 
teachers  of  any  school,  but  rather,  laying  before  the 
teachers  in  conference,  the  whole  self-governing  prop- 
osition. Both  of  the  fiascos  in  teacher  participation  pre- 
viously related  show,  after,  all,  a  lack  of  democracy  that 
neither  of  the  supervisors  concerned  seemed  to  appre- 
ciate. In  both  instances,  self-government  was  thrust 
upon  the  teachers  without  their  previous  knowledge  or 
consent.  There  was  no  question  as  to  whether  these 
teachers  wanted  self-government,  were  in  need  of  it.  or 
were  willing  to  accept  and  share  the  responsibilities  that 
their  new  freedom  necessitated. 

The  first  true  step  then  consists  in  discussing  with  the 
faculty  the  merits  and  defects  of  a  self-governing  school. 
As  a  part  of  this  discussion  may  come  the  division  of 
matters  of  school  administration  into  those  upon  which 
the  teachers  really  desire  to  have  a  voice  and  a  vote  and 
those  upon  which  the  teachers  prefer  only  the  auto- 
cratic ruling  of  the  principal. 

Indeed  at  the  start  the  principal,  who  is,  after  all,  the 
one  most  sure  to  suffer  from  any  defects  in  the  system, 
may  wish  to  reserve  to  himself  certain  rights  and  priv- 
ileges which  affect  his  tenure  of  position.  The  real 
difficulty  will  not,  however,  be  one  of  curbing  the  lawless. 
but  of  interesting  the  patient  and  conscientious. 

Far  from  being  the  lazy  principal  that  the  teacher  of 
our  second  episode  considered  him,  the  man  who  under- 
takes to  put  into  operation  any  plan  of  cooperative 
school  government  assumes  a  double  responsibility  and 
in  some  lines  at  least  must  do  double  work.  It  becomes 
necessary  for  such  a  principal  not  only  constantly  to 
find  the  remedies  for  situations  that  demand  his  attention, 
but  occasionally  to  convince  the  teachers  that  he  super- 
vises, that  the  remedy  he  suggests  or  leads  some  one 


368  THE  JUNIOR   HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

else  to  suggest,  is  the  best  one  to  be  found  under  the 
circumstances.  It  was  a  far  easier  task  for  him  to 
write  his  orders  and  check  up  the  indifferent  and  for- 
getful. Yet  to  some  the  work  of  "checking  up"  is  so 
distasteful  that  they  will  gladly  undertake  no  end  of 
other  work  if  this  burden  can  be  lightened  and  under 
any  working  system  of  self-government  that  one  burden 
is  unquestionably  made  easier. 

On  the  contrary,  the  man  who  delights  in  giving  orders 
without  reasons,  who  is  happier  when  all  jump  at  the 
crack  of  his  whip,  who  gets  real  pleasure  from  compel- 
ling others  for  their  own  good  always  let  us  assume  — 
such  a  man  will  find  a  self-governing  school  a  constant 
nightmare;  and  self-government,  if  attempted  in  his 
school  will  be  almost  surely  foredoomed  to  failure. 

However,  the  true  motive  that  should  impel  all  princi- 
pals to  consider  seriously  the  self-governing  school  is 
neither  to  escape  from  distasteful  duties,  nor  to  exact 
more  service  from  possibly  already  over-worked  teachers, 
but  the  one  great  motive  of  sending  from  his  school  boys 
and  girls  better  fitted  to  assume  the  rights  and  the  obliga- 
tions of  American  citizens  because  of  the  atmosphere 
in  which  they  are  trained. 

The  mere  mechanics  of  school  self-government  may 
seem  of  little  moment  when  the  great  principle  itself  is 
being  discussed,  yet  it  is  in  just  this  particular  that  many 
well  intentioned  movements  fail.  Sound  as  it  may  be 
in  theory,  we  have  too  often  seen  self-government  fail 
through  faulty  practice.  It  becomes  therefore  entirely 
worth  our  while  to  consider  the  steps  that  may  be  advis- 
able —  one  by  one. 

The  plan  that  is  hereafter  described  is  unquestionably 
capable  of  improvement  yet  it  has  this  value  at  least: 
it  has  been  in  successful  operation  for  several  years. 


TEACHER   PARTICIPATION   IN   ADMINISTRATION  369 

First  of  all,  the  desirability  of  having  an  advisory 
committee  elected  by  the  teachers  as  a  whole  is  dis- 
cussed in  open  meeting  —  the  principal  first  having 
consulted  with  some  of  the  more  active  and  energetic 
teachers  on  the  advisability  of  such  action. 

The  reasons  explained  for  such  action  may  be,  first, 
the  general  argument  for  teacher  participation  in  the 
government  of  a  public  school  in  a  democracy;  second, 
which  is  more  personally  appealing,  the  need  for  an 
elected  group  to  which  teachers  may  come  with  sugges- 
tions, inquiries  and  complaints  on  matters  of  school 
government  with  less  hesitation  than  to  the  principal 
direct. 

If  this  step  finds  favor  by  practically  unanimous  vote, 
the  teachers  are  divided  into  several  approximately  equal 
groups  by  subjects,  or  by  grades,  and  asked  to  elect  from 
each  group  one  representative  to  the  principal's  advisory 
committee.  Depending  upon  the  school  —  the  degree  of 
interest  of  the  teachers  and  the  actual  usefulness  of 
the  principal's  council  —  self-government  may  rest  for 
a  while  at  this  stage  before  proceeding  further. 

The  main  difficulty  for  one  who  has  for  years 
managed  his  school  without  let  or  hindrance  is  to  actually 
invite  this  elected  group  into  regular  and  serious  con- 
ferences. Equally  the  difficulty  for  those  who  have  for 
years  found  their  work  as  pleasant  and  interesting  as  the 
principal  could  make  it,  is  to  regard  their  new  positions  as 
more  serious  than  the  perfunctory  approving  of  the  princi- 
pal's evident  desires. 

Until  these  difficulties  are  overcome,  it  is  useless  to 
proceed  further,  but  if  the  principal  has  persuaded  his 
council  of  the  necessity  of  taking  their  elected  offices 
seriously,  and  has  led  them  to  see  from  the  standpoint 
of  the  citizen  the  value  of  training  in  citizenship  and 


370  THE  JUNIOR   HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

self-government  for  themselves  as  a  step  in  making 
their  pupils  ultimately  better  citizens,  then  another 
forward  step,  at  least,  is  in  part  secured. 

In  the  meantime,  the  general  monthly  conferences 
are  conducted  about  as  before  —  with  this  main  dif- 
ference —  that  the  council  is  consulted  in  advance  con- 
cerning the  topics  to  be  taken  up  in  the  conferences 
and  that  the  council  more  and  more  assumes  the  re- 
sponsibility for  seeing  that  the  program  is  suited  to  the 
needs  of  the  school.  Equally,  too,  the  council,  as  far 
as  it  is  able,  takes  especial  interest  in  seeing  that  the 
instructions  given,  or  requests  made,  in  the  general  meet- 
ing are  followed  in  spirit  as  well  as  in  letter  by  the 
teachers  themselves.  Not  by  by-law  or  school-board 
requirement,  but  of  their  own  free  will  the  teachers  have 
given  certain  of  their  number  superior  rights  and  powers. 
As  a  proof  of  their  own  fitness  to  thus  participate  in 
self-government  the  teachers  not  elected  to  the  council 
must  learn  to  regard  those  so  elected  as  superior  in  po- 
sition and  authority.  They  must  learn,  in  other  words, 
to  respect  and  to  defer  to  their  own  representatives, 
as  such. 

( rradually,  as  the  council  learns  to  be  of  real  value 
to  itself  and  to  the  school,  the  scope  and  power  of  the 
council  is  extended,  though  it  may  be  years  in  some 
schools  before  this  next  step  is  found  advisable. 

In  the  next  stage  of  self-government  this  elected 
group  of  five  or  six  still  acts  as  the  principal's  advisory 
council;  they  meet  subject  to  his  call,  or,  when  they 
think  advisable,  at  the  call  of  their  own  elected  chairman. 
However,  no  matters  are  ever  brought  before  the  teachers 
as  a  whole  until  they  have  received  the  sanction  of  a 
majority  of  this  smaller  group.  The  teachers  so  elected 
serve  for  one  vear.  or  until  their  successors  are  installed. 


TEACHER   PARTICIPATION   IN   ADMINISTRATION  371 

The  duties  of  this  group  now  are  to  pass,  not  only  upon 
matters  of  common  acceptance  too  trivial  to  warrant 
calling  together  the  group  as  a  whole,  but  also  upon  mat- 
ters too  serious  to  be  brought  up  for  general  discussion 
until  they  have  been  thrashed  out  in  advance.  The 
meetings  of  this  group  are  held,  whenever  possible, 
during  school  hours  as  a  means  of  decreasing  the  diffi- 
culty of  cancelled  engagements  sometimes  too  frequently 
overlooked.  Membership  in  this  group  is  an  honor  to  be 
everywhere  recognized;  officially  this  group  becomes 
one  of  associate  principals,  though  without  individual 
authority  as  such. 

This  board"  of  associate  principals,  or  principal's  coun- 
cil, actually  prepares,  with  the  assistance  of  the  principal, 
the  program  for  each  general  teachers'  meeting  and  shares 
the  responsibility  for  the  program's  successful  completion. 
If  there  are  questions  which  the  principal  has  carefully 
considered,  he  need  not  fear  to  entrust  them  to  the  good 
judgment  of  this  advisory  group,  explaining,  where  not 
self-evident,  his  every  reason  for  the  reception  he  hopes 
for  by  the  larger  body. 

More  and  more  the  larger  group  of  teachers  is  led 
to  take  some  active  participation  in  the  daily  effort 
to  improve  the  work  of  the  school.  Heretofore  they  may 
have  had  the  plan  of  procedure  handed  to  them  —  first 
by  the  principal,  then  by  the  principal  and  his  council 
—  now  they  are  asked  to  give  more  attention  to  working 
out  for  themselves  the  plans  they  will  be  expected  to 
follow. 

By  means  of  committees,  carefully  selected  by  the 
principal  and  his  council,  various  duties  are  assigned 
to  groups  of  from  one  to  five  teachers.  A  stated  time 
is  announced  for  the  reports  of  these  committees  and  they 
are  held  strictly  to  account.     Where  they  need  help  — 


372  THE  JUNIOR   HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

books  to  be  consulted,  persons  to  be  interviewed — ■ 
dates  for  personal  conferences  are  supplied  in  advance. 
The  reports  when  ready  are  made  to  the  general  meet- 
ing and  approved,  adopted,  or  rejected,  by  the  teachers 
as  a  whole. 

Some  of  the  topics  that  are  assigned  to  such  com- 
mittees are:  under  administration —  assignment  of  teach- 
ers to  yard  duty,  provision  for  the  noon  hour,  dates  and 
plan  for  monthly  and  final  tests,  directions  for  the 
preparation  of  report  cards  and  preparation  of  the  com- 
mencement program.  Under  the  more  strictly  pedagog- 
ical part  of  the  work  will  come  assignments  on  uniform 
grade  plans,  uniform  monthly  tests,  project  method 
plans  for  various  grades  and  subjects,  suggested  devices 
for  rapid  oral  reviews,  the  better  use  of  the  study  period, 
making  the  assembly  program  help  the  class  work,  a 
plan  for  the  exchange  of  help  in  the  class  room  between 
any  two  subjects  such  as  science  and  English.  This 
list  of  topics  is  but  an  indication  of  some  of  the  lines 
that  may  be  followed  with  profit. 

When  the  committee  reports  have  reached  a  stage 
worthy  of  highest  commendation,  when  the  teachers 
as  a  whole  have  become  interested  through  self-activity 
and  self-participation  in  the  larger  work  of  the  school, 
it  is  but  a  simple  step  to  as  complete  a  form  of  self- 
government  as  the  legal  restrictions  placed  upon  the 
officers   of   a   school   will   allow. 

Yet  many  principals  may  hesitate  at  this  last  step 
and  many  superintendents  will  advise  against  it.  In- 
deed it  may  be  questioned  as  to  whether  any  principal 
has  the  legal  right  to  apparently  abdicate  his  position, 
although  he  may  be  within  his  legal  rights  if  he  merely 
assumes  and  promulgates  as  his  own  the  decisions  of 
the  group,  though  even  this  might  be  a  bitter  pill  for  some 
to  swallow. 


TEACHER   PARTICIPATION   IN   ADMINISTRATION  373 

Indeed  we  may  as  well  admit  that  our  teachers  have 
never  been  trained  in  the  normal  schools  or  in  the  field 
to  spend  much  time  upon  the  why  of  what  they  are 
asked  to  do.  We  have  not  asked  them  to  be  profession- 
ally minded,  let  alone  requiring  them  to  be  so  equipped. 

However  true  may  be  the  claims  of  the  critics  that 
those  in  authority  use  that  authority  to  crush  and  repress 
the  creative  powers  and  the  initiative  of  those  they  super- 
vise, our  two  earlier  described  verifiable  episodes  of 
attempted  democracy  in  education  will  be  more  truthful 
pictures  of  the  real   school   situation. 

And  yet  the  tendency  is  toward  a  change.  In  dis- 
cussing this  very  tendency  one*  of  our  most  prominent 
American  superintendents  says  (the  italics  are  mine) : 

"My  ideal  school  principal  is  one  who  runs  an  open  door 
office  and  who,  by  sympathetic  supervision,  invites  and  en- 
courages teachers  to  voice  their  best  judgment  with  reference 
to  the  conduct  of  the  school  which  the  state  and  the  munic- 
ipality have  entrusted  to  their  care.  Whether  or  not  such 
cooperation  is  secured  through  one  device  or  another,  such  as 
is  represented  by  a  school  council,  grade  conferences,  or  gen- 
eral conferences,  is  immaterial.  Lest  I  be  misunderstood, 
however,  permit  me  to  state  that  I  am  a  very  firm  believer  in 
definite  responsibilities  and  centralized  authority.  The  prin- 
cipal and  not  the  individual  teacher  is  the  responsible  executive 
in  charge  of  the  school.  A  laissez-faire  policy  that  means 
headless,  spineless,  decentralized  supervision  may  tempo- 
rarily satisfy  radical  minds,  but  is  certain  to  lead  to  disaster." 

With  this  statement  we  are  bound  to  be  in  full  agree- 
ment, even  though  we  may  have  failed,  before  reading  the 
last  sentence  quoted  above,  to  see  that  some  schools 
might  be  forced  to  become  self-governing  solely  through 
the  principal's  neglect  of  his  required  duties. 

However,  the  same  superintendent  goes  further  in  his 
discussion  to  say  (the  italics  are  still  mine) : 

*  Dr.  Wm.  L.  Ettinger,  New  York  City. 


374  THE  JUNIOR   HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

"To  the  extent  that  teachers  have  a  real  voice  in  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  school,  so  that  despite  rigid  conditions 
imposed  by  equipment,  size  of  classes,  license  requirements,  and 
other  factors  not  easily  controlled,  the  school,  nevertheless, 
represents  the  working  ideal  of  the  majority  as  to  what  is  best 
under  existing  conditions,  the  school  is  a  model  school." 

This  is  indeed  a  remarkably  advanced  step.  As  yet 
no  other  superintendent  has  had  the  courage  to  go  so 
far.  For  there  is  only  one  kind  of  "a  real  voice"  and  that 
is  the  voice  that  can  back  up  its  words  with  deeds. 
In  so  far  as  any  teacher  is  allowed  "a  real  voice  in  the 
administration  of  the  school"  that  teacher  is  a  real  part 
and  parcel  of  the  government  itself. 

Finally  "the  working  ideal  of  the  majority"  can,  in 
the  last  analysis,  only  be  determined  by  an  actual  show 
of  hands.  So  in  the  model  school  of  this  superintendent, 
teachers  are  to  have  both  a  voice  and  a  vote  in  order  to 
determine  what  is  best  under  existing  conditions  for 
their  school  to  do  or  to  abstain  from  doing.  Surely  the 
advocate  of  teacher  participation  could  ask  no  more. 

With  this  endorsement  let  us  consider  the  final  step. 

In  its  completeness  the  self-governing  school  conducts 
its  monthly  teachers'  meetings  much  in  the  spirit  of  the 
town  meetings  of  early  New  England.  The  regular  for- 
mal procedure  of  any  civic  or  social  body  is  followed. 

With  the  president  (principal)  in  the  chair,  there  is  the 
roll  call  if  necessary  —  or  merely  the  noting  of  absent- 
ees —  then  the  minutes  of  the  previous  meeting  are  read 
and  approved.  Under  the  head  of  correspondence,  are 
read  letters  from  the  superintendent  or  from  parents 
that  need  the  attention  of  all  the  school.  Next  come 
the  reports  of  committees  and  officers  which  may  take 
up  the  greater  part  of  the  usual  program. 

If  the  principal  has  a  report  to  make  he  will  make  it 


TEACHER   PARTICIPATION   IN   ADMINISTRATION  375 

as  any  member  would  —  from  the  floor  of  the  house, 
while  the  chairman  of  the  council  temporarily  presides. 

Similarly,  if  under  the  heads  of  Unfinished  Business 
or  New  Business  the  principal  wishes  to  make  a  motion, 
he  will  do  just  as  any  presiding  officer  must  do  —  resign 
his  chair  while  he  is  speaking.  More  frequently  the 
principal  may  find  it  wise  to  suggest  to  some  members 
of  the  council,  or  through  them  to  some  members  of  the 
teaching  staff,  the  making  and  seconding  of  questions 
for  general  discussion.  The  wise  leader  will  also  place 
upon  the  shoulders  of  his  council  the  responsibility  for  the 
adoption  of  such  motions  as  have  previously  gained  their 
acceptance  at  a  council  meeting,  but  which  may  meet 
opposition  of  the  open  floor. 

So  far  as  the  strictly  pedagogical  part  of  any  program 
is  concerned,  the  best  results  have  been  obtained  by 
having  adopted  a  single  line  of  work  to  be  followed  for 
a  semester.  Early  in  the  school  year  a  suggested  list 
of  topics  for  discussion  and  study  may  be  distributed  to 
the  council  and  upon  motion,  the  one  that  seems  to  be 
most  productive  of  interest  and  value  for  that  semester 
may  be  adopted  at  a  general  meeting  by  a  majority  vote. 

No  matter  how  carefully  the  principal  may  have  pre- 
pared his  notes,  no  matter  how  eager  he  may  be  to  ex- 
press his  views,  the  thoughtful  principal  will,  as  chair- 
man, assign  the  preparation  and  the  presentation  of  the 
various  studies  to  be  made  to  the  teachers  of  his  staff. 
If  results  in  school  work  and  spirit,  rather  than  self- 
aggrandizement  and  self-glorification,  arc  to  be  aimed 
at,  the  principal  will  submerge  his  personal  views,  except 
as  he  may  employ  them  in  assisting  the  committees,  of 
one  or  more,  to  prepare  the  reports  which  they  are  to 
present  to  the  general  meeting. 

So  this  at  last  is  our  self-governing  school  in  so  far 


376  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

as  the  laws  of  the  city  and  state  permit  it  to  be  self- 
determining.  No  very  great  change,  let  us  be  frank, 
will  be  outwardly  manifested  over  any  school  controlled 
by  a  beneficent  despot. 

The  same  influence  of  the  meddling  politician  who 
has  a  favorite  to  place  on  the  rolls  will  be  experienced. 
Those  in  higher  authority  still  will  step  in,  now  and  then, 
to  over-rule  the  expressed  will  of  the  majority  and  at  this 
time  the  self-governing  school  suffers  more  than  it 
would  have  done  had  only  the  principal  been  over-ruled, 
because  now  the  teachers  also  feel  that  other  "iron  heel" 
that  only  the  principal  knew  before. 

Yet  even  from  these  rebuffs,  the  self-governing  school 
rises  like  "truth  crushed  to  earth"  and  soon  resumes  the 
even  tenor  of  its  way. 

And  now  at  the  end  of  our  long  discussion,  some  one 
may  ask  "Is  it  all  really  worth  while?"  The  answer  from 
those  who  have  faithfully  tried  it  is  unqualifiedly,  "Yes, 
it  is  unquestionably  worth  all  it  costs.  It  is  worth  it  in 
the  increased  happiness  of  the.  teachers,  in  the  increased 
quantity  and  quality  of  the  work  accomplished  for  the 
pupils,  it  is  worth  it  more  than  all  in  the  increased  love 
and  devotion  the  pupils  feel  toward  their  teachers  and 
their  school." 

Only  to  that  extent  to  which  our  pupils  will  themselves 
be  benefited,  by  being  better  trained  for  democracy  in 
a  school  that  is  itself  conducted  on  democratic  lines, 
can  we  justify  any  departure  from  the  older  system 
which,  while  it  had  its  faults,  still  had  its  undoubted 
merits  too. 

It  is  for  the  sake  of  pupils  and,  in  the  last  analysis, 
for  the  pupils  alone,  that  we  are  warranted  in  adopting 
any  form  of  teacher  participation  in  school  administra- 
tion. 


TEACHER   PARTICIPATION    IN   ADMINISTRATION  377 

QUESTIONS 

1.  What  is  the  value  of  discussing  teacher  participation  in  the 

junior  high  school  management? 

2.  Why  may  this  best  be  considered  by  junior  high  school 

teachers  ? 

3.  What  are  the  most  serious  charges  against  present  school 

management? 

4.  From  what  two  kinds  of  teachers  do  these  charges  chiefly 

come  ? 

5.  What  is  the  effect  of  teacher  participation  on  malcontent?'.' 

6.  Why  may  teacher  participation  almost  double  the  prin- 

cipal's work?    The  teachers'  work? 

7.  What  can  justify  assuming  this  double  burden? 

8.  What  gradual  plan  for  introducing  teacher  participation 

can  I  outline? 

9.  How  many  years  may  it  (will  it)  take  to  work  out  such 

a  plan? 
10.  What  benefits  may  we  expect  the  pupils  will  receive  from 
such  an  administrative  change? 


APPENDIX 

In  the  courses  of  study  that  are  here  given  the  three  years 
work  is  divided  into  four  divisions  to  agree  with  the  plan  fol- 
lowed at  Speyer  School  of  allowing  the  brightest  pupils  to 
attempt  to  cover  three  years  work  in  two  years.  The  course 
as  printed  is,  therefore,  a  Rapid  Advancement  Course. 

The  brightest  pupils  would  cover  the  work  of  the  "A"  Term 
in  one  half  of  the  school  year  or  in  twenty  weeks  of  actual  school 
work  and  the  entire  (A,  B,  C,  D)  work  in  two  years. 

Average  pupils  would  cover  the  work  of  the  "A"  Term  in 
approximately  thirty  weeks  and  the  entire  (A,  B,  C,  D)  work 
in  three  years. 

Finally  the  very  slowest  moving  classes  might  only  cover  the 
work  of  the  "A"  Term  in  an  entire  school  year  of  forty  weeks, 
and  the  entire  (A,  B,  C,  D)  work  in  four  years. 

The  following  courses  of  study  are  from  the  general  or  pre- 
academic  plans  only. 

MATHEMATICS 

Explanation  —  Though  the  various  subjects  arithmetic,  alge- 
bra and  geometry  are  frequently  pursued  side  by  side  on  differ- 
ent days  of  the  same  week,  it  is  not  practical  to  show  this  in 
the  term  plans.  The  plans  following  therefore  show  the  work 
of  each  month  subdivided  and  grouped  by  subjects,  though  in 
actual  instruction  the  two  or  more  subjects  will  be  taught  to 
the  same  class  in  the  same  week  and  occasionally  in  the  same 
class  period. 

Text:    Junior  High   School  Mathematics.  Wentworth, 
Smith  and  Brown. 

"A"  TERM 

ARITHMETIC 

First        Arithmetic  of  the  Home: 

Month         Business  forms:  cash  and  household  accounts. 

Percentage:   three  cases.    Application  to  household 

economics. 
Reading  gas  and  electric  meters. 
379 


380 


THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 


Second    Arithmetic  of  the  Store: 

Month         Integers:     addition,    subtraction,    multiplication  — 
checking,  short  cuts  in  multiplication. 
Fractions:    multiplication   of  fractions   by   integer, 
multiplication  of  mixed  number  by  integer  and  by 
mixed  number. 
Percentage:     application    to    commercial    discount. 
Bills,  receipts. 
Third  Business  forms.     Invoices. 

Month         Problems. 

Arithmetic  of  Industry: 

Fractions:  addition,  subtraction,  division. 
Business  forms:  pay  roll. 
Problems. 
Arithmetic  of  the  Bank: 
Savings.     The  general  types  of  banks. 
Simple  interest. 
Fourth     Principle  of  compound  interest. 
Month     Bank  discount. 

Business  forms.     Checks,  promissory  notes. 
Problems. 
Fifth        Review. 
Month 

GEOMETRY 

First        Geometry  of  form: 

Month        Geometric  figures:   angles,  triangles,  quadrilaterals. 
Construction:    triangles;    isosceles    triangles;     equi- 
lateral triangles;    perpendiculars;    bisecting  line, 
angle  of  angle  equal  to  a  given  angle. 
Second        Parallel  lines.     Dividing  a  line. 
Month         Construction  of  geometric  patterns. 
Drawing  to  scale.  1 
Proportions.    Similarity  of  shape.    Angles  in  similar 

figures. 
Similar  figures  in  photographs. 
Pantograph.     Symmetry. 
Third  Plane  figures  formed  by  curves. 

Month        Solids  bounded  by  curved  surfaces. 
Problems  without  figures. 
Geometry  of  size: 

Length.    Practical  measurements.    . 


APPENDIX 


381 


Fourth     Estimate  of  areas:     Area  of  rectangle,  parallelogram, 
Month  triangle,  trapezoid,  polygon. 

Fifth        Review. 
Month 

"  B  "  TERM 

GEOMETRY 

First        Areas  of  polygons:    rectangle,  triangle,  parallelogram, 
Month  trapezoid. 

Ratio  and  proportion.    Proportional  numbers  and  lines. 

Similar  figures:    heights  of  inaccessible  objects. 

Circles:  radius,  diameter,  circumference,  area. 

Volumes:  square  prism,  cylinder. 

Curved  surface  of  cylinder. 

Plastering  and  painting  walls.     Board  measure. 

Metric  measures:  length,  weight,  capacity. 
Second    Fixing  positions  of  points.     Positions  on  maps. 
Month     Points  equidistant  from  two  points  —  distance  of  a 
point  from  a  line. 

Position  fixed  by  two  lines. 

Points  equidistant  from  two  lines. 

Use   of   angles   in   fixing   points.     Problems   without 
figures. 

Square    root:     factoring   method.      General    method. 
Applications  of  square  root 


ARITHMETIC 

Third      Ordering  goods.    Invoices  and  bills.    Personal  accounts. 
Month     Profit  and  loss:    reckoning  profit  on  the  cost. 

Commercial  discount.     Several  discounts. 

Short  methods  in  multiplication. 
Fourth     Foreign  money:    shilling,  franc,  lira,  mark,  ruble. 
Month    Metric  system  reviewed.    Problems  without  numbers 

Passenger  rates:  express  rates,  parcel  post. 

Review.     Problems  without  numbers. 
Fifth        Buying  tools:    cotton  industry,  wood  work,  machine 
Month  shop,  baking  industry. 


382  THE  JUNIOR   HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

Interest;  promissory  note  (interest  on). 
Bank  discount;  proceeds,  etc. 

ALGEBRA 

First        The   formula.      Symbols.     Simplifying   algebraic   ex- 
Month  pressions.     Evaluation  of  formulas. 

Statements  and  symbols.     Need  of  formulas. 
Second    Formulas  in  games,  and  in  geometry. 
Month     Formulas  of  areas  of  polygons,  and  of  volumes. 

Formulas  for  circle,  cylinder,  cone,  sphere. 
Third       Formulas  used  in  shops,  in  the  home,  in  business. 
Month     Equation:  the  unknown  quantity;  problems. 
Fourth     Equation:   solution  of,  by  addition,  subtraction,  multi- 
Month  plication  or  division. 

Graphs:    value  of  graphs;    bar  pictograms,   circular 
pictograms.     Cartograms. 

Functional  relations.     Graph  of  tables.     Interest  and 
wage  graphs. 

Graphs  of  formulas.     Review. 


"  C  "  TERM 

ALGEBRA 

First        Multiplication:      Negative     multiplication.       Special 
Month  products. 

Division:  Negative  division.  Express  statements  in 
form  of  equations.  Problems  of  simple  machines. 
Business.  Symbols.  Formulas.  Rules.  Order 
of  operation:  1.  Powers.  Roots.  2.  Multi- 
plication. Division.  3.  Addition.  Subtraction. 
Second  Equations:  Solving  at  sight. 
Month     Axioms:  Uses.     Problems. 

Formulas  used  in  Industries. 
Graph. 

Addition:    Subtraction  involving  negative  numbers. 
Third       Multiplication:    Division  involving  negative  numbers. 
Month     Terms  used. 

Addition  of  polynomials:   equations. 
Subtraction  of   polynomials:    removal  of  parentheses, 
several  symbols. 


APPENDIX 


383 


Fourth 
Month 


Fifth 
Month 


Equations  involving  subtractions. 

Multiplication  of  polynomials. 

Square  of  sum  or  difference  of  two  numbers. 

Square  roots. 

Products.    Factoring  the  difference  of  two  squares. 

Special  case. 
Product  of  two  binomials. 

Factoring  a  quadratic  trinomial.     Cube  of  a  binomial. 
Graphs. 


GEOMETRY 

First        Terms  explained: 

Month        Lines.     Point.  .  Properties  of  straight  line.     Solid. 
Plane.     Angles. 

Bisecting  a  line. 

Constructing  an  angle  equal  to  a  given  angle. 

Bisecting  an  angle. 
Second        Constructing  perpendiculars. 
Month         Construction  of  triangles. 

Judging  by  appearances. 

Axioms.     Postulates. 
Third  Congruent  angles.     Inferences. 

Month        Theorem:  Two  sides  and  included  angle. 

Inferences  as  to  isosceles  triangles. 
Fourth  Theorem.    In  an  isosceles  triangle  the  angles  opposite 

Month  the  equal  sides  are  equal. 

Theorem.     Two  angles  and  included  side. 

Congruence  of  triangles.     Inferences. 

Theorem.     Three  sides  (triangles). 

Theorem.     Congruence  of  right  triangles. 

Review  of  congruence. 


"  D  "  TERM 
ALGEBRA 

First        Multiplication  of  binomials. 
Month     Factoring:  cubes  and  trinomials. 

Division  by  monomial,  binomial,  polynomial. 

Division,  fractions  in  quotient. 


384 


THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 


Second 
Month 


Third 
Month 


Fractions:     reduction,    signs,    addition,    subtraction, 

multiplication,  division. 
Equations:  simple  and  with  fractions. 
Problems  in  simple  equations. 
Simultaneous  equations. 

Elimination  by  addition  or  subtraction. 

Elimination  by  substitution. 
Problems:  simultaneous  equations. 
Quadratic  equations:    Pure  and  affected,   solved  by 

factoring  and  by  completing  square. 
Formulas  and  general  review. 


TRIGONOMETRY    (Mere  introduction) 

Fourth    Functions  of    angles:    Shadow  reckoning.    Tangent  of 
Month  an  angle.    Finding  of  tangents.    Table  of  tangents. 

Measuring  angles.     Practical  use  of  the  tangent. 

Tangents.     Sine   of   an   angle.     Table   of  sines. 

Sines.    Function  of  an  angle.    Cosine  of  an  angle. 

Cosines.    Cotangent  of  an  angle.    Use:  cotangent. 

Trigonometric    tables.      Complementary    angles. 

Functions.     Table  of  functions.     Review. 
Fifth        Review  of  algebra. 
Month 

GEOMETRY 

First        List  of  postulates  and  definitions. 
Month     Statements  memorized  and  explained. 
Theorems : 

Vertical  angles. 

Congruent  triangles  and  inferences. 

Two  sides  and  included  angle. 

Isosceles  triangle. 

Two  angles  and  included  sides. 

Three  sides. 
Second    Theorems: 
Month         Congruence  of  right  angles. 

Parallels  cut  by  transversal. 

Alternate  angles  equal. 
Third       Theorems: 
Month        Equal  parts  of  parallelogram. 


APPENDIX  385 

Opposite  sides  equal. 
Two  sides  equal  and  parallel. 
Transversal  and  parallels. 
Angles  of  triangles. 
Fourth     Theorems: 
Month        Angles  of  polygon. 

Sum  of  exterior  angles. 

Rectangles. 

Square  of  sum,  square  of  difference,  rectangle  of 

sum  and  difference. 
Area  of  parallelogram. 
Area  of  triangles. 
Fifth        Theorems:  Area  of  trapezoid. 
Month     Pythagorean  theorem. 

Problems:     bisect   line,    equal    angles,    bisect   angles, 
perpendicular  from  point  outside,  or  on  the  line. 
Theorems:  Points  equidistant  from  a  line. 
Points  equidistant  from  points. 
Method  of  finding  locus. 


LITERATURE  PLAN 


FOR   INTENSIVE   READING 


FOR    CURSORY    READING 


1. 


:;. 


Treasure  Island 
Sohrab  and  Rustum 
Ancient  Mariner 


"A"   TERM 

1.  Study  of  a  newspaper 

2.  Use  of  a  dictionary 

Select  one. 

1.  Lady  of  the  Lake 

2.  Christmas  Carol 


B"  TERM 


Lewis  Literature 
selections 

2.  Ivanhoe 

3.  Sketch  Book  * 


Short 


"C 


Select  two. 

1.  Lays  of  Ancient  Rome 

2.  Cooper  —  Novels 

3.  Tom  Brown's  Schooldays 

4.  Franklin's  Autobiography 

5.  Dickens'  David  Copperfield 


Bullfinch  —  MyJbology 

Stories  of  Gods  —  God-  2. 

desses  —  Heroes  of  Greece  3. 

Odyssey,  Selections  from  4. 

Iliad,  Selections  from  5. 


TERM 

Select  two. 

1.  Making  of  an  American 

2.  The  Virginian 
Tennyson  —  Idylls 
Poe  —  Short  Stories 
Peabody  —  Piper 


D"   TERM 


1.  Midsummer  Night's  Dream 

2.  As  You  Like  It 

3.  Merchant  of  Venice  * 


Select  tiro. 

1.  Julius  Caesar 

2.  Lorna  Doone 

3.  Lamb  —  Essaj'S  —  shorter 

stories  only 

4.  Silas  Marner 

5.  House  of  Seven  Gables 


*  Third   term   High   School  work,   but   desirable  for  brightest 
junior  high  school  pupils. 

3S6 


WRITTEN  ENGLISH 

Part  I.     Content.     Suggested  topics  for  letters 

"A"  TERM 

1.  Spirit  of  Speyer. 

2.  Art  Excursions. 

3.  Speyer  Activities. 

4.  Looking  forward  to  High  School. 

"B"  TERM 

1.  Science  Excursions: 

What  we  saw  that  was  worth  remembering. 

2.  Vocational  Guidance: 

Telling  advantages  of  certain  trades  or  professions. 
Asking  advice  as  to  some  trade  or  profession. 

3.  Business  Letters: 

Orders  to  stores,  complaints,  recognition  of  courtesies. 

4.  Social  Forms: 

Invitations  —  formal  and  informal;  regrets,  etc. 

5.  Current  Topics. 

"C"  TERM 

1.  Recommending  that  a  certain  book  be  read. 

2.  Literature  and  History,  e.g.,  Shakespeare's  England. 

3.  Science  Experiments. 

4.  Vocational  Guidance;   "  How  I  Could  Earn  My  Living." 
■5.  Business  Letters;    order,  complaint,  application,  etc. 

6.  Current  Topics. 

7.  Civic  Responsibility;    Letters  to  City  Departments. 

"D"   TERM 

1.  Business  Letters.  5.  Literature. 

2.  Current  News.  6.  Stage. 

3.  Speyer  Happenings.  7.  Athletics. 

4.  Civic  Responsibility.  8.  Science,  Art,  French,  etc. 

387 


Part  II.    Formal  Side 

On  the  formal  side  of  the  written  English  a  spiral  plan  of 
work  is  being  tried  out  which  differs  each  semester  only  in 
degree  and  not  in  kind. 

For  all  pupils  the  following  sequence  is  maintained: 

First        Reader's  interest  to  be  obtained  through 
Month        Good  Beginning: 

1.  Original,    attractive,    alive,    sincere,     natural, 

jolly. 

2.  Variety  of  expression: 

(a)  Break  "  and  "  habit. 

(b)  Expand  simple  sentences. 
Arrangement,  heading,  envelope. 

Punctuation. 

Period: 

1.  No  end  punctuation  in  heading. 

2.  Used  at  end  of  complete  thought. 

3.  Used  in  abbreviations. 


Second    Reader's  Interest  to  be  obtained  through 
Month         Knowledge: 

1.  Exact. 

2.  Enough. 

3.  Well  arranged  facts. 

(a)  Topic  sentence. 

(b)  Outline. 

Punctuation. 
Comma.     (See  footnote  for  detail.)* 

Third       Reader's  Interest  to  be  obtained  through 
Month         Variety: 

*  The  four  (A,  B,  C,  D)  successive  steps  in  difficulty  are  illus- 
trated, in  the  case  of  the  comma,  on  pace  389. 

388 


APPENDIX  3S9 

1.  Sentence  Structure. 

(a)  Simple,    compound,    complex,    inverted, 

balanced,  loose,  periodic. 

(b)  Transition  words. 

2.  Careful  use  of  period,  comma. 
Punctuation: 

Question  mark  to  give  variety. 

Capital  letters  (P.  454,  Miller  and  Palmer). 

Fourth     Reader's  Interest  to  be  obtained  through 
Month        Expression: 

1.  Clear  expression. 

2.  Choice  of  words,  verb  sequence. 

3.  Good    salesmanship  —  using   devices   of    best 

type  of  advertising. 

Punctuation: 
Apostrophe. 
Capital  letters  (continued). 

COMMA 

"A"   Term 
Heading,  salutation,  closing,  envelope. 

1.  Direct  address. 

2.  Before  "but". 

3.  Words  in  apposition. 

4.  Words  in  series. 

"B"   Term 

1.  To  set  off  adverbial  clause  out  of  its  natural  order. 

2.  To  set  off  a  phrase  containing  a  verbal  form  used  out  of  its 

natural  order. 

3.  Phrases  or  clauses  in  series. 

"C"   Term 

1.  Nominative  absolute  construction. 

2.  Parenthetical  words,  phrases  or  clauses. 

3.  Descriptive  clause. 

"D"   Term 

1.  To  set  off  introductory  word  or  phrase. 

2.  To  indicate  omission  of  a  word. 

3.  To  separate  contrasted  or  balanced  parts  of  sentence. 

4.  To  avoid  ambiguity. 


FORMAL  GRAMMAR  PLAN 

"A"   TERM 
Sentence 

Subject  and  predicate 
Compound  subject  and  predicate 

f  Simple. 
Forms  Complex. 
[  Compound. 
Kinds  of  sentence- 

(  Declarative. 
v  Use    I  Interrogative.     Exclamatory. 
[  Imperative. 
Compound  sentences 
Parts  of  speech  recognized 

Classification  of  nouns  <  ^  n  n    +• 

{  Common.     Collective 

Inflection  of  nouns 

"B"   TERM 

Pronouns:  Adjective  and  Adverb: 

Classes.  Classes. 

Inflections.  Inflections. 

r,        .      J  Adjective  clauses. 
P   '  \  Adverbial  clauses. 
Omit  noun  clauses  until  "  D  "  term. 
Conjunctions:   coordinate,  subordinate. 
Review  of  previous  work. 

"C    TERM 
Verbs : 

Regular.     Irregular. 

Transitive.     Intransitive.     Copulative. 

Active  and  Passive. 

Modes:  Indicative,  Imperative,  Subjunctive. 

Tenses  (6). 

Corrections  of  errors,  agreement  of  verbs  and  subjects. 

Review  of  previous  work. 

390 


APPENDIX  391 

"D"  TERM 

Verbals. 

Infinitives  and  participles. 

Noun  clauses. 

Expanding  simple  sentences  to  complex;    phrases  to  clauses; 

and  combining  detached  statements  into  simple  compound 

and  complex  sentences. 
Same  word  used  as  different  parts  of  speech. 
Analyses  and  syntheses. 

PUPIL'S  GUIDE  FOR  CORRECTION  OF  ERRORS 
OF  FORM  IN  HIS  LETTERS 

1.  Margin. 

1.  Left  hand  l£-2  inch. 

2.  Right  hand  1-2  inch. 

2.  Heading. 

1.  Open. 

2.  Box. 

3.  Three  lines. 

4.  No  abbreviations  except  state. 

3.  Salutation. 

1.  Touching  margin  line. 

2.  Capitalize  first  word  and  all  names. 

3.  Comma. 

4.  Closing. 

1.  Capitalize  first  word. 

2.  Follow  first  line  by  comma. 

3.  Period  after  name. 

5.  Paragraphing. 

1.  Topic  sentence. 

2.  Indentation. 

3.  Unity. 

4.  Coherence. 

(a)  Transitional  words. 

(b)  Repetition. 


392  THE  JUNIOR  HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

6.  Sentences. 

1,  Variety  in: 

(a)  Kind. 

(b)  Length. 

(c)  Order. 

2.  Structurally  correct. 

(a)  Avoid  "  and  "  habit. 

(6)  Unified. 

(c)  Clear. 

(d)  Connectives. 

(e)  Modifying  elements. 

7.  Spelling. 

1.  The  apostrophe. 

2.  Capitalization. 

3.  Contractions. 

4.  Abbreviations. 

8.  Punctuation. 

1.  Full  stop  at  the  end  of  sentence. 

2.  Comma. 

(a)  Direct  address. 

(b)  Series  words,  phrases,  and  clauses. 

(c)  Before  "  but." 

(d)  To  separate  phrases  and  clauses  which  begin 

sentences. 

9.  Penmanship. 

1.  Legible. 

2.  Uniform. 

3.  Neat. 

4.  Large. 

10.  Grammar. 

1.  Subject  and  predicate. 

2.  Agreement  between  subject  and  predicate. 

3.  Tenses. 

4.  Verb  forms  (irregular). 


APPENDIX  393 


5.  Pronoun  and  its  antecedents. 

6.  Pronoun  and  its  cases. 

7.  Comparison  of  adjectives  and  adverbs. 

8.  Correct  use  of: 

(a)  get  —  be. 
(6)  shall  —  will. 

(c)  learn  —  teach. 

(d)  would  —  will. 

(e)  could  —  can. 
(/)  should  —  shall. 


FRENCH 

"A"   TERM 

Most  of  the  time  in  French  for  the  "  A  "  term  is  devoted  to 
an  expansion  of  the  topics  under  Social  Studies  "  A "  term, 
but  which  are  not  reprinted  here.     See  Social  Studies. 

Vocabulary.     Conversation  based  on: 

La  Classe  Les  Nombres 

Le  Corps  L' hen  re 

Les  Vetements 

Songs  and  Games  *: 

Frere  Jacques  An  clair  de  la  lune 

Est-ce Sur  le  font  d' Avignon 

II  etait  une  bergere 

Phonetics: 

All  vowel  sounds. 

Nasals. 

Grammar: 

Definite  and  indefinite  article. 

Gender  of  nouns. 

Agreement  of  adjectives. 

Present  tense  of  avoir  and  etre. 

Present  tense  of  verbs  of  the  first  conjugation. 

I7se  of  interrogative  pronouns. 

"B"   TERM 

Having  awakened  a  keen  desire  for  the  study  of  French 
through  the  "  Introductory  Course  "  in  the  .4  term,  the  B 
term  takes  up  the  work  in  a  more  intensive  manner. 

Although  part  of  the  daily  instruction  is  to  be  devoted  to 

*  Reading:   Meras,  Le  Premier  Livre,  Lessons  1,  2,  3,  4. 

394 


APPENDIX  395 

phonetic  drills  and  conversational  exercises,  a  systematic  study 
of  the  elements  of  grammar  and  simple  syntax  is  begun. 

Reading: 

Twenty-five  to  thirty  pages  from  a  graded  reader  (Le  Premier 
Livre,  Meras). 

Memory: 

Le  Petit  Pierre  (Poetry). 
La  Marseillaise  (Song).     First  stanza. 
Remi  (Prose).     Twenty  hues. 
Proverbs  (12). 

Grammar: 

Adjectives:  agreement,  position,  formation  of  feminine  and 
plural  of  regular  adjectives.  Irregular  adjectives:  bon, 
blanc,  heureux,  beau,  long,  cher. 

Nouns:  Gender,  formation  of  regular  plural. 

Pronouns:  Subject 

Interrogative  qui  and  que. 
Verbs: 

Present  indicative  of  avoir  and  etre,  all  forms. 

Present  indicative,  past,  past  indefinite,  future,  and  im- 
perative of  regular  verbs  of  1st,  2nd  and  3rd  conjugations. 

Present  indicative,  past  indefinite,  and  imperative  of  the 
following  irregular  verbs:  prendre,  comprendre,  dire,  lire, 
ecrire,  aller,  mettre. 

Adverbs:  Comment,  combien,  ne-pas. 
Miscellaneous: 

Cardinal  numbers  to  100. 
Ordinal  numbers  to  50. 
Days  of  week,  months. 

Idioms: 

Void,  voila;  il  y  a. 
Comment  allez-vousf 
Comment  vous  appelez-vous? 
Etc.,  etc. 


396  THE  JUNIOR   HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

"C"   TERM 

Idioms: 
Salutations,  age,  weather,  avoir  faim,  peur,  etc. 

Poetry: 

La  Marseillaise,  En  passant  par  la  Lorraine. 

Reading: 

Le  Premier  Livre,  Meras,  about  50  pages,  or  Conversational 
French  Reader,  Biennan  &  Frank,  20  selections. 

Miscellaneous: 

Numbers  to  1000;  proverbs;  il  y  a,  voila;  quel,  qu'est-ce  qui; 
ne-jamais,  etc.,  en  and  present  participle,  aprh  followed  by 
infinitive,  partitive  noun  preceded  bjT  adjective,  two  ways 
of  forming  question,  months,  seasons. 

Article:    Definite,   singular   and  plural,   combined  with  prepo- 
sitions de,  a;    partitive.     Indefinite,  singular  and  plural. 

A  djectives: 

Agreement,  position,  rule  of  adjectives  of  color,  nationality, 

comparison,  regular  and  irregular,  irregular  feminine  and 

plural. 
Demonstratives. 
Possessives. 

Pronouns: 

Direct  and  indirect  object. 
Demonstrative. 
Disjunctive. 
Relative,  qui,  que. 
Partitive  en. 

Verbs: 
Present  indicative,  imperfect,  past  indefinite,  future,  principal 

parts. 
Imperative  of  regular  verbs  in  er,  re,  ir  and  of  some  more 

common  irregular  verbs  like  prendre,  mettre,  ovxrir,  ecrire, 

faire,  comprendre,  dire,  lire,  repondre,  aller,  avoir,  ctre. 
Agreement  of  past  participle  when  combined  with  etre,  with 

avoir. 
Reflexive  and  reciprocal  verbs. 


APPENDIX  397 

Adverbs: 
Formation,    position   with   past   participle,   plus,   moins,   y, 


plusieurs. 


"D"  TERM 


Idioms  (continued). 
Poetry: 

La  Cigale  et  la  Fourmi. 
Le  Renard  et  le  Corbeau. 
La  Grenouille  et  le  Boeuf. 

Reading: 

Le  Premier  Livre,  Meras,  about  50  pages. 

Petits  Contes  de  France,  Meras  and  Roth,  about  50  pages. 

Scenes  of  Familiar  Life,  Frazer,  7  to  10  selections. 

Article: 

Indefinite.     (Omitted   with  words   indicating  profession   or 
nationality.) 

Definite: 
Used  in  a  general  sense. 
Used  instead  of  a  possessive. 

Partitive: 
Before  an  adjective. 
After  a  negative. 
After  nouns  and  adverbs  of  quantity  and  measure. 

Adjectives: 

Plural  of  irregular  adjectives. 

Superlative  degree. 

Rules  for  position  and  agreement  (continued). 

Pronouns: 
Possessives  (continued). 
Demonstratives  (continued). 
Relatives  (continued) . 
Disjunctives  as  objects  of  a  preposition. 
Use  of  two  objects  (continued). 
En,  on. 


398  THE   JUNIOR   HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

Verbs: 

Complete  all  tenses  except  subjunctive  of  verbs  previously 
studied,  regular  and  irregular.  Add  verbs  like  alter,  venir, 
pouvoir,  voidoir. 

Formation  of  tenses. 

Synopsis. 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTORY  SCIENCE 


"A"  TERM 

First        A.    How  high  have  men  gone  in  balloons  or  airplanes? 
Month  How  did  they  know  how  high  they  had  gone? 

1.  How  do  you  make  a  mercury  barometer? 

Experiments  to  prove  the  principles  in- 
volved. 

Air  exerts  pressure,  has  weight,  occupies 
space  and  is  a  real  substance. 

2.  Why    is    the    aneroid    barometer    in    more 

common    use    than    the    mercury    ba- 
rometer? 

3.  How  do  the  officials  at  an  aero  meet  know 

the   altitudes  attained  by  the  various 
contestants? 

4.  Barograph. 

How   could  you  use   a  barometer  to   help 
predict  the  weather? 
Second    B.         1.    How    could    you    empty    a    flooded    cellar? 
Month  (sewer  or  excavation) 

Lift  pump. 

2.  How  would  you  get  water  into  a  tank  on 

the  top  of  a  high  building? 
Force  pump. 

3.  How  would  you  empty  an  excavation  filled 

with    soft    mud,    or    water    containing 

sand  and  small  stones? 
Centrifugal  pump. 
Third       C.        1.   How  is  a  vacuum  bottle  made? 
Month  Exhausting  air  pump.     Commercial  uses 

of  a  vacuum. 

2.  How  is  a  bicycle  tire  inflated? 

Bicycle  pump. 

3.  How  is  a  building  cleaned  by  sand  blasting? 

Air    compressor.      Commercial    uses    of 
compressed  air. 
399 


400 


THE   JUNIOR    HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 


D.    How  would  you  empty  an  aquarium? 
Siphon.    Commercial  siphons. 
Fourth     E.    Why  do  aviators  bleed  at  high  altitudes? 
Month  Air  pressure  and  the  human  body.     The 

"  bends." 
1.   What  causes  "  ringing"  in  the  ears? 

Structure  of  the  ear.    Sound.    Eustachian 
tube. 
F.     How  does  a  Boy  Scout  build  a  fire? 

Composition  of  the  ah.  Properties  of 
oxygen,  carbon,  nitrogen,  hydrogen,  and 
carbon  dioxide.     Products  of  burning. 

1.  How  does  a  match  burn? 

Kindling  point.     Oxidation. 

2.  How  would  you  put  out  a  fire? 

Fire  extinguishers. 
Fifth        G.     How  does  New  York  City  get  its  water  supply? 
Month  Sources.     Purification.     Pressure. 

1.  Do  all  cities  get  their  water  from  mountains'.' 

Water  supply  systems. 

2.  How  do  we  get  the  water  into  the  house? 

House  piping.  Hot  and  cold  water  supply. 
Faucets. 

3.  How  is  waste  matter  carried  away? 

Sewerage  systems.     Septic  tanks. 
H.    Could  you  tell  when  a  storm  is  coming? 

Weather  Bureau.     Weather  map.     Winds. 
1.   What  causes  rain? 

Evaporation  and  condensation. 


"B"   TERM 

(SPRING    TERM    BIOLOGY) 

First        Museum  of  Natural  History:  Prehistoric  animals. 
Month         Proj.     Were  there  any  animals  on  earth  before  man? 
Museum  of  Natural  History:   Struggle  for  existence. 
Proj.     How  do  animals  benefit  man  by  fighting  for 
him? 
Museum  of  Natural  History:   Habitat  Bird  Group. 
Proj.     Group  these  birds  on  adaptation  to  environ- 
ment. 


APPENDIX 


401 


Museum  of  Natural  History:  Birds  of  the  world. 
Proj.     How  do  birds  help  conserve  natural  resources? 
Proj.     What   adaptation    have    birds   for    (a)  pro- 
tection?    (6)  food  getting?     (c)  life  in  air? 
Second    Museum   of   Natural    History:     Commercial    Animal 
Month  Products. 

Proj.     How  are  water  mammals  valuable  to  man? 
Aquarium:   Fish  (adaptations,  protective  coloration). 
Proj.     What  adaptations  has  a  fish  for  life  in  water? 
Botanical  Gardens,  Bronx  Park  Tropical  Plants. 

Proj.     How  do  plants  of  tropics  differ  from  ours? 
Museum  of  Systematic   Botany:    Commercial  Plant 
Products. 
Proj.     What  valuable  commercial  products  do  we 
obtain  from  plants? 
Third       Museum  of  Natural  History:  Useful  insects. 
Month        Proj.     How    are    insects    beneficial    (a)  to    plants, 
(6)  to  man? 
Museum  of  Natural  History:  Harmful  insects. 

Proj.     How  are  plants  injured  by  insects? 
Museum  of  Natural  History:  Flies  and  mosquitoes. 

Proj .     How  are  insects  harmful  as  carriers  of  disease? 
Museum  of  Natural  History:  Food  values. 

Proj.     What  foods  should  you  eat  and  how  much? 
Make  a  menu  for  (a)  breakfast,  (b)  dinner, 

(r)  supper. 
Make  a  menu  for  a  school  luncheon. 
Fourth     Museum  of  Natural  History:  Woods  and  Forestry. 
Month         Proj.     How  is  wood  made? 
Palisades:  Soil  and  Rocks. 

Proj.     What  does  soil  in  woods  contain? 
Palisades:  Trees  in  relation  to  environment. 

Proj.     What  evidence  of  a  struggle  for  existence  do 
you  observe  among  the  trees  in  the  woods? 
Palisades:  Flowers. 

Proj.     How  are  flowers  benefited  by  insects? 
How  do  flowers  produce  seeds? 
How  do  fruits  and  seeds  secure  dispersal? 
Fifth        Palisades:   Amphibia  and  reptiles. 
Month        Proj.     What  animals  can  you  find  in  swamps  and 
ponds? 


402 


THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 


How  are  they  adapted  for  protection? 
How  are  they  useful  to  man? 
Zoological  Gardens,  Bronx:  Recognition  Test. 

Proj.     How  many  birds  which  you  studied  at  the 
Museum  early  this  term  can  you  identify? 
How   can  we'  justify   the   spending  of  city 
money  to  care  for  all  these  animals? 
Aquarium:  Fish  Conservation. 

Proj.     How  are  fish  artificially  propagated? 
How  is  this  work  valuable? 


"C"   TERM 

First        .4.    Why  did  the  U.S.  government  build  the  dam  at 
Month  Keokuk? 

Conservation    of    energy.      Sources    of    energy. 
Kinds     of     energy.       Transformation     of 
energy.     Forms  of  energy. 
What  would  happen  to  the  earth  if  the  sun 
were  to  stop  giving  light  and  heat? 
B.    How  would  you  find  your  direction  at  night9 

North  star.     Constellations.     Sun  and  stars. 
Nebulae.     Solar  system. 

1.  What  causes  the  phases  of  the  moon? 

2.  What  causes  the  change  of  seasons? 

3.  Why  did  we  have  to  change  our  clocks  Sep- 

tember 20th? 
Time.     Standard  and  solar  time.     Inter- 
national date  fine. 

4.  If  you  were  transported  to  the  moon,  how 

high  could  you  jump? 
Second    C.     How  are  our  houses  lighted? 
Month  1.    Why  have  our  houses  windows? 

Sun  as  source  of  earth's  light.     Reflection 
and  diffusion  of  light. 

2.  How  does  a  prism  form  the  "  rainbow  '".' 

Refraction.     Color  in  sunlight.     Color  of 
bodies. 

3.  How  do  we  take  pictures? 

Lenses.    Camera.    Human  eye.    Intensity 
of  light. 


APPENDIX 


403 


4.   How  are  our  houses  lighted  when  the  sun  is 
not  shining? 
Candles.    Kerosene.    Gas.    Electric  light. 
Direct  and  indirect  lighting. 
D.    How  is  your  home  heated? 

Heating  Systems:   steam,  hot  water,  hot  air, 
stoves,  gas  heater.     Distribution  of  heat. 
Coal  and  wood  as  fuel. 
Third       E.    Why  does  a  car,  rolling  along  the  tracks,  come  to 
Month  rest? 

Inertia.  Friction.  Weight.  Work.  Horse- 
power. 

F.  How  can  man,  weak  as  he  is,  move  weights  greater 

than    can    be    moved    by    other    stronger 
animals? 
What  machines  are  used  in  your  home? 

Lever.  Wheel  and  axle.  Pulley.  Inclined 
plane.  Wedge.  Screw.  Pendulum.  Com- 
plex machines. 

G.  Why  do  mariners  need  the  compass? 

Magnets  and  lines  of  force.    Laws  of  magnetism. 
Fourth     H.   What  makes  an  electric  bell  ring? 
Month  Electric  magnets.     Permanent  and  temporary 

magnets.    Telephone  and  telegraph.    Wire- 
less telephone  and  telegraph.     Electricity 
and    modern    means    of    communication. 
Organs  of  speech. 
I.     Why  does  a  ship  made  of  iron  float,  while  a  piece 
of  iron  sinks  in  water? 
Flotation.     Specific  gravity.     Submarines. 
Fifth        J.     How  is  a  locomotive  able  to  pull  a  long  train? 
Month  Steam  engine.     Steam  ship.     Great  land   and 

water  routes. 
K.    How  does  an  automobile  move  by  itself? 

Gas  engines.     Automobiles. 
L.    How  do  subway  trains  move? 

Electric  motor.     Dynamo.     Power  stations. 
M.   How  may  electricity  be  made  commercially,  with- 
out the  use  of  steam? 
Water  power.    Water  wheels.    Conservation  of 
the  forests. 


404 


THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 


"D"   TERM 

(FALL    TERM    BIOLOGY) 

First  1.   How  does  a  flower  produce  a  seed? 

Month  Essential  organs,  pollination. 

2.  What  does  the  pollen  grain  do  after  it  reaches  the 

stigma? 
Microscopic   study   of  pollen   grains  grown   in 

sugar  solution. 
Fertilization. 

3.  How  does  a  seed  produce  a  new  plant? 

Purpose  of  seed  in  plant's  life. 

Seed  dispersal,  especially  weed  seeds. 

Economic  value  of  seeds. 

How  man  secures  better  plants. 
Second      4.   How  is  the  embryo  nourished  until  able  to  support 
Month  itself? 

Show   how   growth   is   affected   by   air,   water, 
temperature. 

5.  What  food  substances  are  found  in  seeds  —  bean, 

corn. 
Tests    for    nutrients  —  starch,    sugar,    protein, 
fats,  minerals,  water. 

6.  How  is  stored  food  made  ready  for  use  in  a  seedling? 

How  seeds  digest  starch. 

7.  How  is  food  used  by  animals? 

Show  digestion  of  starch,  protein. 
Digestive  system:   organs,  functions,  secretions, 
enzymes. 

8.  How  do  foods  get  into  the  blood? 

Osmosis. 

Circulatory  system:    study  of  blood,  source  of 
plasma,  function  of  corpuscles. 

9.  What  effect  has  exercise  on  rate  of  heart  beat? 

Taking  one's  pulse. 
Heart:  location,  size,  shape. 
Function  of  valves  —  arteries,  veins  and  capil- 
laries. 
Third       10.   What  changes  take  place  in  blood  as  it  passes 
Month  through  walls  of  alimentary  canal,  muscles, 

lungs  and  kidneys? 


APPENDIX  405 

11.  How  is  heat  value  of  foods  measured? 

How  much  food  should  you  eat  and  of  what 

kinds? 
Make  a  menu  suitable  for  a  boy's  school  lunch. 
Make  a  science  poster  for  a  school  campaign  to 

secure    better    lunches    for    boys    at    Speyer 

School. 

12.  What  is  value  of  good  drinking  water  in  our  daily 

diet? 
How  has  New  York  City  secured  a  good  water 

supply? 
How  do  trees  affect  moisture  in  soil? 
How  do  root  hairs  absorb  soil  water? 
Microscopic  study  of  root  hairs.     Osmosis. 
What  else  besides  water  do  roots  take  from  soil? 
How  does  water  pass  up  through  stems? 
Fourth     13.   How  is  food  manufactured  in  green  leaves? 
Month  Show    that    (a)  green    leaves    contain    starch, 

(b)  starch  is  made  in  the  green  leaf,  (c)  air, 

light,  water  and  chlorophyll  are  necessary  for 

starch  making. 

14.  Experiments  to  show  that  green  leaves  give  off 

0  and  H2O  when  manufacturing  starch. 
Microscopic  study  of  green  leaf,   guard   cells, 
stomata. 

15.  How  do  non-green  plants  secure  food? 

Saprophytes  useful  to  man  —  yeast. 
Parasites  harmful  to  man. 

16.  Why  do  foods  spoil? 

Bacteria:  useful  and  harmful. 

How  are  plants  and  animals  mutually  helpful? 

Protozoa:  harmful  and  useful. 


SOCIAL  SCIENCE 

"A"  TERM 
(History,  Geography*,  Civics) 

The  history  in  the  A  Grade  starts  with  the  recent  war  and 
carries  the  pupils  back  to  the  early  history  of  Europe.  Special 
emphasis  is  placed  on  the  part  France  has  played  in  history. 

This  work  is  planned  to  serve  in  part  as  an  introduction  to 
a  study  of  the  French  language. 

1.  France  —  our  ally  in  the  World  War. 

Joffre,  Foch,  Retain,   Pershing,   Wilson,   Lloyd  George, 
Clemenceau,  Orlando. 

2.  Ancient  friendship  of  France  for  the  United  States. 

Lafayette,  Franklin,  De  Grasse,  Rochambeau. 

3.  Conditions  leading  up  to  the  French  Revolution. 

Louis  XIV,  Louis  XV. 

4.  Government  in  France  during  our  Revolution. 

Louis  XVI. 

5.  The  French  Revolution. 

Robespierre,  Danton,  Marat. 

6.  Napoleon. 

7.  Why  was  there  no  revolution  in  England? 

Magna  Charta,  Petition  of  Rights,  Bill  of  Rights. 

8.  Development  of  Parliamentary  system  of  government. 

Great  Council,  Simon  de  Montfort's  Parliament,  Model 
Parliament,  Long  Parliament. 

9.  Earlier  forms  of  government. 

Feudalism. 

10.  France  in  the  Middle  Ages.     The  days  of  chivalry. 

11.  The  Hundred  Years'  War. 

Joan  of  Arc. 

12.  The  Crusades. 

Godfrey  de  Bouillon,  Barbarossa,  Richard  Coeur  de  Lion. 

*  The  geography  taken  up  in  this  course  consists  of  a  study  of 
the  territories  covered  in  the  historicals  urvey  previously  outlined, 
together  with  a  study  of  the  colonial  possessions  of  the  great 
European  powers. 

406 


APPENDIX  407 

13.  Charlemagne.     Rise  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire. 

14.  The  people  of  France. 

Origin,  development,  customs,  ideals. 

"B"   TERM 

The  B  Grade  takes  up  ancient  history  in  order  better  to 
understand  the  present.  Some  of  the  contributions  of  Rome, 
Greece,  Babylonia  and  Egypt  to  present  day  civilization  are 
touched  upon  in  a  study  of  the  development  of  civilization  in 
these  countries. 

1.  Evidence  today  that  there  was  a  great  period  before  the 

time  of  Charlemagne:  (a)  Art,  (b)  Literature  —  Iliad, 
Odyssey,  (c)  Roman  Law  Books. 

2.  Rome:   advantages  of  her  geographical  position  that  aided 

her  in  becoming  center  of  a  great  empire. 

3.  Rome:   Early  Roman  society;   the  Roman  family,  religion, 

government.  Social  classes  in  early  republic  —  patricians, 
plebeians.     The  twelve  tables. 

4.  Rome:     Expansion    of     Rome;     Carthage    versus    Rome; 

Punic  Wars;  military  genius  of  Rome. 

5.  Rome:   great  personalities  of  Rome  in  the  period  preceding 

the  Empire  period;  (a)  Gracchi,  (b)  Marius,  (c)  Sulla, 
(d)  Pompey,  (e)  Crassus,  (/)  Caesar,  (g)  Antony,  Oc- 
tavian. 

6.  Empire  period:   (a)  Augustus,  (b)  Nero,  64  a.d.,  (c)  Titus, 

79  a.d.  Excavations  at  Pompeii,  (d)  Hadrian,  famous 
Pantheon,  walls,  baths,  aqueducts,  theatres  and  temples. 
Literature  of  this  period  —  Aeneid,  Horace,  Vergil,  Livy. 

7.  Survivals    of    Roman    period:     (a)   Language — -Romance 

languages,  (b)  Roman  law,  (c)  Roman  idea  of  free  self- 
governing  city  never  died  out  of  Europe. 

8.  Greece:    the  country  from  which  Rome  borrowed  a  Large 

part   of   her   culture.     How   the   mountains   of  Greece 
divided  it  so  that  city  states  developed. 
'.».   Creece:    myths  found  in  Homer  and  Hesiod  founded  on 
historic  facts;    excavations    at    Troy  and  Mycenae;    re- 
ligion, gods  and  goddesses. 

10.  Greece:    Sparta  and  Athens  as  types  of  city  states;    as- 

sembly of  freemen;  training  of  Spartan  boy. 

11.  Greece:    attacks  by  other  nations.     Supremacy  of  Athens. 


408  THE  JUNIOR  HIGH  SCHOOL  IDEA 

Age  of  Pericles.  Literary  development.  Herodotus. 
Progress  in  philosophy  —  Socrates,  Plato,  Aristotle. 

12.  Greece  under  Philip  and  Alexander  the  Great.     Contri- 

butions of  Greece:  (a)  Art,  (6)  Science,  (c)  Literature, 
(rf)  Philosophy. 

13.  Phoenicia:    carrier  of  knowledge  in  ancient  times;    contri- 

butions:   alphabet  and  colonies  established. 

14.  Babylonia:    geographical   conditions  that  led  to  the  de- 

velopment of  an  early  civilization.  Brief  history.  Con- 
tributions: (a)  sundial,  (b)  water  clock,  (c)  face  of  the 
clock. 

15.  Egypt:  how  the  geography  of  Egypt  has  affected  its  history. 

Important  periods  in  Egyptian  history,  (a)  pyramid 
builders,  (b)  temple  period.  Contribution:  rudimentary 
calendar. 

16.  Contributions  made  to  civilization  by  India  and  China. 

Causes  for  lack  of  progress. 


"C"   TERM 

Aims:  "  Knowledge  interpreting  "  rather  than  "  knowledge 
getting."  A  study  of  the  relations  of  cause  and  effect.  Im- 
portant influences  at  work  in  our  history. 

The  pupil  trained  to  use  his  knowledge  to  interpret  present 
day  conditions. 

The  pupil  better  prepared  (l)  to  obtain  authentic  informa- 
tion upon  public  questions;  (2)  to  develop  an  interest  in  the 
social  problems  of  the  day;  (3)  to  maintain  an  open-minded  at- 
titude toward  controversial  subjects;  (4)  to  gain  an  increasing 
ability  to  evaluate  correctly  qualities  of  leadership  in  public 
servants;  (5)  to  recognize  and  appreciate  his  great  civic 
inheritance. 

I.  Civilization  carried  to  a  New  Continent;  American  be- 
ginnings in  Europe.  Economic  conditions  leading  up  to  the 
discovery  of  America.  American  discoveries  and  explorations. 
Colonization  of  America  and  colonial  life.  Growth  of  the 
spirit  of  democracy.  The  American  Revolution.  Welding  the 
states  into  a  nation. 

II.  The  growth  of  our  nation,  with  special  emphasis  upon: 
amendments  to  the  Constitution;    new  political  parties;    in- 


APPENDIX  409 

ventions  and  discoveries  as  affecting  industry  and  commerce; 
the  tariff  as  affecting  industry. 

III.  Transportation  and  travel.  Increase  of  population  by 
immigration;  the  growth  of  cities;  unification  of  the  North 
and  the  South;  labor  unions;  conservation;  civil  service  re- 
form; public  health;  public  education;  equal  suffrage. 

IV.  The  Spanish  American  war  as  a  phase  of  expansion. 
Foreign  relations;  the  Monroe  Doctrine  applied;  island  pos- 
sessions; Hague  tribunal;  Panama  Canal. 

Some  causes  and  some  effects  of  the  World  War. 

"D"   TERM 
(COMMUNITY   CIVICS) 

Topic:  The  course  in  Community  Civics  is  given  in  the  hope 
of  making  better  citizens  of  our  pupils  by  arousing  in  them  an 
interest  in  civic  matters  through  a  knowledge  of  what  the 
government  does  for  them,  and  of  what  their  duties  as  individuals 
are. 

In  order  to  correlate  the  class  work  with  actual  conditions 
we  think  it  well  to  begin  the  fall  term  with  a  study  of  the  elective 
offices  of  our  city  government  to  correspond  to  the  primaries, 
registration  and  election  during  the  months  of  September, 
October  and  November. 

1.  Introduction:    Training  the  voter  of  tomorrow.    A  survey 

of  what  the  government  does  for  its  citizens  and  of  the 
duties  of  the  citizen  to  the  community. 

2.  The  part  of  the  citizen  in  government:    Why  active  citizen- 

ship is  necessary.  How  a  person  becomes  a  citizen. 
How  a  citizen  takes  part  in  the  government. 

3.  How  the  laws  are  carried  out:    The  mayor;    duties  and 

power;  great  responsibility  of  position.  Responsibility 
of  voter.  Our  city  government  as  compared  with  the 
commission  plan. 

4.  Paying  the  citi/s  bills:    The  Board  of  Estimate  and  Ap- 

portionment. The  budget.  Means  of  obtaining  money, 
etc. 

5.  Making  the  laws:  City,  State  and  National  legislation  affect- 

ing the  citizen. 

6.  Judicial    action:  Need    of    courts  —  classes    of    courts  — 

procedure. 


410  THE  JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL  IDEA 

7.  Public  education:    Why  and  how  the  public  manages  schools. 

8.  The  city's  water  supply   Sources,  protection  and  adminis- 

tration of  New  York  City's  water  supply. 

9.  Protecting  the  Food  of  the  City:    Dangers  to  which  city 

dwellers  are  exposed.    Work  of  City,  State  and  National 
government. 

10.  Guarding  the  health  of  the  people:    Methods  and  agencies  of 

health  promotion.     Work  of  Health  Department,     Re- 
lation of  industry  to  health. 

11.  Disposal  of  city  wastes:   Need  of  community  action;   work 

of    city    departments.      Individual    responsibility    and 
cooperation. 

12.  Protection  of  life  and  property:   Need  of  community  action. 

Police  and  Fire  Departments. 

13.  Regulation  of  buildings:  The  problem  of  housing.    Work  of 

City  and  State  government. 

14.  Communication  and  transportation:   Dependence  of  civilized 

life  upon   communication  and  transportation.     Means. 
Government  control. 

15.  Lighting  and  heating  as  public  utilities:    Need  of   public 

action  and  government  regulation. 

16.  City  planning:   Need  of  a  city  plan.    Our  system.    Govern- 

ment agencies  concerned. 

17.  Civic  beauty:    Value  of  beauty.     City  and  state  agencies. 

Individual  responsibility  and  cooperation. 

18.  Care  of  the  City's  wards:   Classes  of  unfortunates.    Why  a 

matter   of   public    concern.      Government   and    private 
agencies. 

19.  Public  regulation  of  work:  Why  community  action  necessary. 

Government  regulations.     Individual  responsibility. 

20.  Public  provision  for  recreation:  Importance  of  play  space  to 

the  community. 


APPENDIX 


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412 


THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 


NEW  YORK  CITY  PUBLIC   SCHOOLS 


GUIDE    FOR   DETERMINING    SUMMARIZED    RATING 

AND    FOR   RECORDING    EXCEPTIONAL   OR 

UNSATISFACTORY   SERVICE 


I. 

Professional  Attitude 

Individual 

A..    Regularity  of  attendance  and  punc- 
tuality 

B.  Cooperation 

C.  Social  service 

D.  Volunteer  activities 

E.  Care  of  physical  welfare  of  child 

F.  Loyalty 

G.  Self-improvement 

Comment 

II. 

Instruction 

A.  Use  of  English 

B.  Knowledge  of  subject  matter 

C.  Skill  in  teaching 

1.  Preparation 

2.  Definiteness  of  aim 

3.  Appropriateness  of  method 

4.  Good  questioning 

5.  Thoroughness  of  drill 

6.  Participation  and  interest  of  class 

D.  Results  obtained 

III. 

Discipline 

A.  Control  of  class 

B.  Training  pupils  in  self-control 

C.  Effect  on  attendance  and  truancy 

D.  Character  building 

IV. 

Personal  Attributes 

A.  Personal  appearance 

B.  Use  of  voice 

C.  Cheerfulness 

D.  Courtesy 

E.  Self-control 

F.  Initiative  and  demonstrated  leadersh ip 

G.  Tact 

H.    Sympathy 

V. 

Routine 

A.    Accuracy  and  promptness  in  prepar- 
insr  reDorts  and  in  keeping  records 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

ELEMENTARY  SCHOOL  TEACHERS'  PROFESSIONAL 
LIBRARY 


GENERAL   REFERENCE 

1 .  Bonser.  Elementary  School 
Curriculum 

2.  Freeland.  Modern  Ele- 
mentary School  Practice 

3.  Parker.  General  Methods 
of  Teaching  in  Elementary 
Schools 

4.  Rapeer.  Teaching  Ele- 
mentary School  Subjects 

5.  Strayer.  Brief  Course  in 
Teaching  Process 

6.  Strayer-Engelhardt.  The 
Classroom  Teacher 

7.  Davis.  Work  of  the 
Teacher 

8.  Norsworthy  and  Whitley. 
Psychology  of  Childhood 

9.  Thorndike.  Principles  of 
Teaching 

10.   Scott.     Social  Education 


SPECIAL   METHODS 

11.  Arithmetic 

Klapper.  Teaching  of  Arith- 
metic 

Thorndike.  Methods  of 
Teaching  Arithmetic 

Thorndike.  Psychology  of 
Arithmetic 

12.  Composition 

Leonard.     English   Composi- 
tion  as   a   Social    Problem 
Klapper.    Teaching  of  English 

13.  Geography 

Dodge  and  Kirchwey.  Teach- 
ing of  Geography 

McMurry.  Special  Methods 
in  Geography 

14.  History 

Johnson.    Teaching  of  History 

Kendall  and  Stryker.    History 

in   the   Elementary   School 

15.  Manual  Arts 
Bonser.     Industrial  Arts 
Winslow  and  Gompf.     Indus- 
trial   Arts    in    Elementary 
Education 

16.  Physical  Training 
Bowen.    Teaching  of  Elemen- 
tary   School    Gymnastics 

Hoag  and  Terman.  Health 
^'ork  in  the  Schools 


413 


414 


THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL  IDEA 


remarks  (continued) 


special  methods  (continued) 

17.  Reading 

Klapper.  Teaching  Children 
to  Read 

Jenkins.  Reading  in  Primary- 
Grades 

18.  Spelling 

Suzzallo.  Teaching  of  Spell- 
ing 

Cook  and  O'Shea.  Child  and 
His  Spelling 

19.  Ethics 

Moral  Training  in  Public 
Schools.  California  prize 
essays 

20.  Science 

Trafton.  Teaching  of  Science 
in  Elementary  School 

Hodge.  Nature  Study  and 
Life 


JUNIOR  HIGH  SCHOOL  PROBLEMS 

Briggs.    The  Junior  High  School 
Koos.    The  Junior  High  School 

For  other  Junior  High  School  subjects,  see  High  School  list. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


415 


HIGH  SCHOOL  TEACHERS'  PROFESSIONAL  LIBRARY 


GENERAL   REFERENCE 

21.  Colvin.       Introduction     to 
High   School   Teaching 

22.  Judd.     Psychology  of  High 
School  Subjects 

23.  Inglis.    Principles    of    Sec- 
ondary Education 

24.  Foster.         Principles        of 
Teaching  in  Secondary  Schools 

25.  Johnston.       Modern    High 
School 

26.  Monroe.    Principles  of  Sec- 
ondary Education 

27.  Parker.    Methods  of  Teach- 
ing in  High  Schools 

28.  Hall.     Youth 

29.  Bobbitt.    Curriculum 

30.  Dewey.      Democracy    and 
Education 

Strayer    and    Norsworthy. 
How  to  Teach 

REMARKS 


SPECIAL    METHODS 

31.  Art  (Drawing) 

Dow.     Theory   and   Practice 

of  Teaching  Art 
Dow.     Art  Composition 

32.  Biology 

Lloyd  and  Bigelow.  Teach- 
ing of  Biology 

33.  Chemistry 

Smith-Hall.  Teaching  of 
Chemistry 

34.  Civics 

American  Political  Science 
Association.  Teaching  of 
Government  and  Civics 

35.  Economics 

Haynes.  Economics  in  Sec- 
ondary   Schools 

36.  English  Composition 
Thomas.    Teaching  of  English 

in   High   Schools 
Leonard.     English    Composi- 
tion 

37.  English  Grammar 
Barbour.      Teaching    of    En- 
glish Grammar 

Carpenter,  Baker  and  Scott, 
Teaching  of  English 

38.  English  Literature 
Carpenter,  Baker  and  Scott. 

Teaching  of  English 
<  Jhubb.    Teaching  of  English 

39.  French 

Palmer.  Scientific  Study  and 
Teaching  of  Languages 

40.  General  Science 

Twiss.  Text  book  in  princi- 
ples of  science  teaching 


416 


THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 


remarks    {continued) 


special  methods   (continued) 
Van     Buskirk     and     Smith. 
Science   of    Everyday   Life 

41.  German 
Bagster-Collins.     German  in 

Secondary    Schools 

42.  History 

Johnson.    Teaching  of  History 
Try  on.     Teaching  of  History 
in  High  Schools 

43.  Latin 

Bennett  and  Bristol.  Teach- 
ing   of    Latin    and    Greek 

Game.  Teaching  High  School 
Latin 

44.  Manual  Training 
Griffith.      Teaching     Manual 

and  Industrial  Arts 

45.  Mathematics 

Schultze.  Teaching  of  Math- 
ematics in  Secondary 
Schools 

Young.  Teaching  of  Math- 
ematics 

46.  Physical  Training 
Skarstrom.      Gymnastic 

Teaching 
Rapeer.  Educational  Hygiene 

47.  Physical  Geography 
Holtz.     Principles  and  Meth- 
ods of  Teaching  Geography 

48.  Physics 

Smith  and  Hall.    Teaching  of 

Chemistry-Physics 
Mann.     Teaching  of  Physics 

49.  Spanish 

Wilkins.  Spanish  in  the  High 
School 

50.  Psychology 
Woodworth.     Psychology 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


417 


SUPERVISORS'   PROFESSIONAL   LIBRARY 


GENERAL   REFERENCE 


SPECIAL    METHODS 

51.  Adolescence 

G.  Stanley  Hall.  Adolescence 

52.  Administration 
Cubberley.       Public     School 

Administration 
Strayer-Thorndike.       Educa- 
tional  Administration 

53.  Assemblies 

New  York  City  Board  of 
Education.  Pamphlet  on 
"Assemblies" 

54.  Citizenship 

Dewey.     School  and  Society 
Dean.     Our  Schools  in   War 
Time  and  After 

55.  Compulsory  Education 

56.  Delinquents 

57.  Examinations.  (Promotion) 
Kelly.     Teachers'  Marks 

58.  General   Intelligence   Tests 
Terman.       Measurement     of 

Intelligence 

59.  Grading  of  School  Children 

60.  Hygiene  of  School.  Children 
Hoag   and   Terman.      Health 

Work  in  Schools 
Cornell.    Health    and    Medi- 
cal   Inspection    of    School 
Children 

61.  Improving  Instruction 
Strayer.     A    Brief  Course   in 

Teaching  Process 

62.  Management 

St  rayer-Engelha  rdt.  The 
( 'lassroom  Teacher 

Bagley;  Classroom  Manage- 
ment 


418 


THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL  IDEA 


remarks    (continued) 


special  methods   (continued) 

63.  Mental  Defectives 
Norsworthy.     Psychology  of 

Mentall}'  Deficient  Children 

64.  Moral  Training 

Dewey.  Moral  Principles  of 
Education 

65.  Physical  Defectives 
Terman.       Hygiene     of     the 

School  Child 

66.  Play.    Athletics 
Curtis.     Play 

67.  Psychology  of  Childhood 
Norsworthy-Whitley.      Psy- 
chology of  Childhood 

68.  Rating  of  Teachers 

The  Fourteenth  Yearbook. 
National  Society  for  the 
Study  of  Education 

69.  Social  Education 
Scott.     Social  Education 

70.  Standardized  (subject)  tests 
Monroe,  Devoss  and  Kelley. 

Educational      Tests      and 
Measurements 
Wilson  and  Hoke.     How  to 
Measure  Education 

71.  Supervision    of   Instruction 
Nutt.      Supervision     of    In- 
struction 

72.  Training  of  Teachers 

73.  Truancy 

74.  Vocational  Training 
Snedden.     Vocational 

Education 

75.  Welfare  Work 

Jackson.    Community  Center 
Carney.      Country    Life   and 

Country  Schools 
Curtis.     Recreation  Through 

Play 


INDEX 


Ability,  native  or  general,  24; 
sequence  in,  36 

Accounting,  127,  132 

Advisory,  committee  of  teachers, 
369 

Agassiz,  265 

Ailanthus  tree,  266 

Aims,  establishing  in  Junior 
High  School,  subjects,  82;  in 
special  subjects,  see  each  sep- 
arately; of  Speyer  School,  4 

Algebra,  127,  132 

American  history,  174.  See  also 
History 

Annapolis,  methods  at,  91 

Army  tests,  22,  289 

Art,  in  Junior  High  School,  187; 
Teaching  Appreciation  of, 
Chap.  XI,  187;  field  work  in, 
273;  pictorial,  190;  teacher  vs. 
artist,  193 

Articulation  of  Junior  and 
Senior  High  schools,  85 

Artists  and  our  course  of  study, 
187 

Athletics,  213 

Average  pupil,  27,  36,  44,  78 

Battery  tests,  23 
Binet-Simon  tests,  22 
Bodily  Health,  Chap.  XII,  L99 
Briggs,  Prof.  Thomas  H.,  3,  82 

Bright  pupils,  33,  37-40,  7s 
Business  letters,  116 

Character  Building,  Chap.  XII, 
199,  214 


Children's  letters,  107 
Chinese  examinations,  2S4,  302 
Choice  of  high  school  course,  14 
Choosing  the  Course  of  Study, 

Chap.  IV,  58 
Citizenship,  practice  in,  123,  327. 

See  also  Self-government 
Civics,    community,    ISO.      See 

also  Social  Science 
Class  leaders,  duties  of,  336 
Class  meetings,   120.     See  also 

Self-government 
College   entrance   requirements, 

63;   in  phj'sical  training,  200; 

Columbia  University,  303 
Completion  tests,  297 
Compulsory  education,  233 
Congestion  in  schools,  259   - 
Contemporary    civilization    ex- 
amination, 303 
Contrast    between    Senior    and 

Junior  High  schools,   11 
Correction  of  pupils'  letters,  117 
Courses  of  Study,  Choosing  the, 

Chap.  IV,  58;    tabulation  of, 

68 

Dates  for  uniform  tests,  49 
Discipline,  50 
Drawing.    See  Art 
Duty,  pupils  working  from  sense 
of,  8  I 

Effort  vs.  interest,  81 
Elementary    school,    emphasis, 

IS;      graduation     from,     12; 

ideas,  12 


419 


420 


THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 


Elimination  from  high  school,  15 

English    in    the    Junior    High 

School,   Chap.    VI,   96;    field 

work,    269;     grammar,    113; 

literature,  98,  98,  99;  oral,  97, 

119;    written,  97,  117 

Enrollment  by  grades,  45 

Ettinger,      Dr.      William       L., 

quoted,  373 
Examinations  at  entrance  to 
Senior  High  School,  88;  for 
promoti  >n,28S;  teachers'  work 
in,  2-98;  Written,  Chap.  XVII, 
284;  also  see  Written  Exami- 
nations 

Fear  as  a  deterrent,  328 

Field  trips,  difficulties  of,  274; 
preparati  m  for,  280 

Field  Work,  in  all  Subjects, 
Chap.  XVI,  259;  in  English, 
269;  manual  art,  273;  math- 
ematics, 268;  music,  274; 
natural  science,  287;  practi- 
cal details  of,  274;  social 
studies,  271 

Foreign  language,  74;  introduc- 
tion to,  150,  151;  introduc- 
tory, Chap.  VIII,  13D;  new 
requirements  of  teachers,  153; 
practice  in,  154;  one  language 
for  a  school,  149;  teacher  of, 
264;  unavoidable,  143,  148; 
use  of,  144.  154 

French.     See  Foreign  Language 

Gary  school  plan,  263 

General  Introductory  Science, 
Chap.  IX,  158;  aims  in,  165; 
boys'  ambitions  in,  170;  not 
to  make  scientists,  164;  proj- 
ects    in,     167;      reasons    for 


studying,   161;    specialization 

of  artisans,    162;  teachers  of, 

169;    text   books  in,    168 
General  Method  in  Junior  High 

School,  Chap.  V,  77 
Geography,  growth  of,  178.    See 

also  Social  Science 
Geometry,  study  of,  130,  133 
German.    »See  Foreign  Language 
Gosling,  Supt.  Thomas  W.,  6,  10 
Grades,  size  of,  54 
Graduation,  elementary  school, 

12 
Grammar,  English,  107,  113 
Group  tests,   interpretation  of, 

25 

"Hamlet,"  an  illustration  from 
the  play,  101 

Health,  day,  208;  of  children. 
200,  207;  nutrition  grades, 
201;  record,  209.  See  also 
Physical  Training 

Height  of  boys  and  girls,  205 

High  school  aims,  17;  attitude, 
79,  91;  election,  14;  emphasis, 
18;  joint  committee,  93; 
methods,  16 

History,  American,  174;  aims  in, 
176 

Hold-overs,  46 

Homer's  "Odyssey,"  pupils'  re- 
action, 102 

Home  study,  71,  221;  experi- 
ments in,  223 

Homogeneous  grouping,  26,  44 

Immediate     appeal      vital     to 

project,  234 
Immediate  values  essential,  63 
Instruction,  Project  Method  of, 

Chap.  XIV,  233 


INDEX 


421 


Interest,  improperly  secured,  80 
Intelligence,  tests,  21;  at  Speyer 
School,  29;    combinations  of, 
32.    See  also  Written  Exami- 
nations 
Introduction,  Chap.  A,  3 
Italian.     See  Foreign  Language 

Junior  College,  94 

Junior  and  Senior  High  School 

work  blended,  65 
Junior  High   School,  a   finding 

and    sorting    school,    16,   86; 

aims  stated,  4,  19;  Idea,  Chap. 

1,8 

King,  Leo  H.,  tests  given  by,  31 

Latin  in  Junior  High  School,  140, 
145,  147;  direct  method,  145; 
incentives  an  illustration,  77 

Laziness,  habits  of,  39 

Leaders  Club  of  Speyer  School, 
335;    constitution,  347 

Leaders  .  in  classes,  Speyer 
School,  336 

Leadership,  training  for,  old 
style,  17,  142;  in  self-govern- 
ment, 330;  in  Speyer  School, 
335 

Lecture  method,  245 

Letters,  audience  essential,  109; 
business,  116;  correction,  117; 
of  children,  107;  subjects  for, 
110 

Manual,  art,  field  work  in,  273; 
training,  why  not  discussed,  5 

Marks,  working  for,  321 

Mathematics,  66,  72,  127,  L30; 
accounting,  127;  algebra,  127, 
132;  field  work,  268;  (Jeneral 


Introductory,  Chap.  VII,  125; 
geometry,  130,  133;  trigo- 
nometry, 131;  unit  course, 
132;     at   Speyer    School,  135 

McMurry,  Prof.  Frank,  quoted, 
238 

Memoirs,  National  Academy, 
309 

Method  of  salesmanship,  95 

Military  availability,  23 

Modern  language,  forecast  of 
success  in,   155 

Motion  pictures  in  English  lit- 
erature, 270 

Museum  of  Art,  191;  of  Natural 
History,  265,  279 

Music,  appreciation  in,  190,  194; 
field  work,  274;  memory  list, 
N.  Y.  C,  195.  See  also  Art 
Appreciation 

National  Citizens  Conference, 
357 

Natural  science,  73,  158;  field 
trips,  267.  See  also  General 
Science 

New  York  ( !ity,  new  junior  high 
schools,  93;  card  for  physical 
examination  record,  209;  con- 
gestion in,  259;  music  mem- 
ory list,   195 

Ninth  year  work,  begun  early, 
65;  blended  with  seventh  and 
eight,  66 

Nutrition  grades,  201,  204 

Oral  English  requirements,  97: 

in  the  Junior  I  li'jji  School,  I  lit 

Parents'  attitude  toward  health 
work,  204 


422 


THE   JUNIOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   IDEA 


Parents,  reports  of  pupils'  work 
to,  318 

Physical  Training,  Chap.  XII, 
199;  aims  in,  211;  teachers 
of,  202,  207,  210.  See  also 
Health  or  Character  Building 

Principal  in  self  governing 
school,  367 

Prognostic  Tests,  Use  of,  Chap. 
II,  21 

Project  Method,  Chap.  XIV, 
233;  definition  of,  238;  find- 
ing suitable  projects,  241;  in 
socialized  recitation,  256 

Promotions  in  elementary 
schools,  11;  by  subjects  not 
advised,  51;  of  teacher  with 
class,  53;  in  speed  groups, 
49 

Psychological  tests,  21,  34,  309. 
See  also  Prognostic  Tests, 
Written  Examinations 

Pupil  Self-government,  Chap. 
XIX,  327 

Pupil's  point  of  view,  79; 
Report  Cards,  Chap.  XVIII, 
310;  talents  awakened,  61; 
teaching  by,  252 

Purposes  of  pupils'  work  estab- 
lished, 236 

Questions  by  pupils,  253 

Rate  of  speed  in  learning,  27,45 
Ratings,    systems   of.   313;     by 

pupils    of    each    other,    322 
Rationalization      of     work     to 

pupils,  77 
Reasonableness     of     work     to 

pupil,  84 
Reasons    for    organizing    junior 

high  schools,  8 


Recall,  place  of  in  examinations, 

292 
Recitations,    teacher's   part   in, 

246 
Recognition  Tests,  Chap.  XVII, 

284;  in  examinations,  293,  301 
Regents,    New  York  State  ex- 
aminations,   290,   303 
Relative  Ratings,  Chap.  XVIII, 

310;      more     accurate     than 

percents,  317 
Repeaters,   42,   46 
Report    Cards,    Chap.    XVIII, 

310;  used  at   Speyer  School, 

324 

Salaries  of  Junior  High  School 

teachers,  10 
Salesmanship  in  teaching,  95 
School  buildings,  in  field  trips, 

266;   city,  plan  of  self-govern- 
ment, 327;    congestion,  259; 

pupils,  success  in,  forecast,  24; 

work  vs.  real  work,  58,  260 
Science,  See  General,  Natural  or 

Social 
Scoring  in  school  tests,  296 
Self-government       of       Pupils, 

Chap.    XIX,    327;    teacher's 

part  in,   334 
Size  of  grades,  54 
Slower  pupils,  41 
Social   Science,   Chap.   X,    173; 

aims  of,  182;    field  work  in, 

271;  in  program  of  studies,  72 
Socialized     Recitation,      Chap. 

XV,   245;     teacher    of,    257; 

viewpoint,  253,  256 
Spanish.    Sec  Foreign  Language 
Speed  Grouping,  Chap.  Ill,  36; 

value  of,  44;    and  re-grading, 

289 


INDEX 


423 


Special  programs,  52 

Specialization  of  pupils  gradual, 
51 

Speyer  School,  aims,  4,  19; 
joint  administration  of,  3; 
mathematics  course  devel- 
oped, 135;  report  cards,  324; 
"S"  requirements,  214 

Study,  Teaching  Pupils  to, 
Chap.  XIII,  200;  assigning 
home,  229,  231;  experiments 
suggested,  223;  means  to  se- 
cure, 226;  time  of,  221;  will 
power  and,  221 

Supervision,  unit}'  in  junior  and 
senior  high  schools,  87 

Survival  in  senior  high  school,  90 

Talents,  discovering  pupil's,  61 

Teaching  Pupils  to  Study  Alone, 
Chap.  XIII,  220 

Teachers,  assignment  of,  54; 
college,  at  Speyer  School,  3; 
demand  for  self-government 
of,  364;  disloyalty  of,  363, 
365;  experiments  in  admin- 
istration by,  360;  organiza- 
tions of,  355;  Participation 
in  Administration,  Chap.  XX, 
354;  point  of  view  of,  59-62; 
professional  vs.  artisan,  356; 
ratings  given  by,  311,  314; 
understanding  children,  237; 
work  in  examinations,  285, 
298;  work  in  training  leaders, 
344 

Tests  to  give  sequence  of  pupils, 
47 


Thomas,  Prof.  Calvin,  quoted, 
143 

Thorndike,  Prof.  E.  L.,  psycho- 
logical tests,  32;  unselfish 
pleasures,   189 

Time,  taken  by  teacher  in  reci- 
tations, 246;  vs.  achievement 
in  gaining  credits,  28,  50; 
weekly  allowance  to  subjects, 
69,  75 

Town  meetings  in  school  work, 
374 

"Treasure  Island"  tests,  294 

Trigonometry  in  Junior  High 
School,  131 

True  or  false  tests,  294 

Uniform  grade  tests,  47;  tests, 
table  of  dates  for,  49 

Variety  in  junior  high  schools 

desirable,   6 
Vicarious     experience     through 

reading,  104 
Visits,     teachers     required     to 

exchange,  89 
Vocational  experience  aimed  at, 

63 

Weight  of  boys  and  girls,  tables, 
205 

Written  English,  course  of  study 
in,  71.     See  Chap.  VI,  96,  105 

Written  Examinations,  Chap. 
XVII,  284;  frequency  of,  290 
teacher's  work  in,  285,  298 
time  in  correcting,  285,  301 
unavoidable,  289 


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